The government will submit to Congress this week a bill proposing the framework for a new intelligence and counterintelligence state agency that will eventually replace the country’s security agency, the DAS.
Speaking to Caracol Radio, Liberal Party Senator Juan Manuel Galan said that the proposed law will see the creation of a civilian institution that will report directly to the government but will not act in any way as a judicial police entity or an immigration service.
The new agency will furthermore be given a ministerial rank, unlike the DAS, and include several more checks to ensure no repeat of the illegal wiretapping that took place under the former administration of Alvaro Uribe.
This bill will be one of the first presented to Congress as part of a series over the next six months aimed at dividing government ministries and restructuring state agencies.
The DAS and the national drug agency, the DNE, are expected to be the focal points of this initiative due to the corruption scandals that have plighted both agencies in recent years.