Best way to combat corruption is to give a good example, says ex-president who got elected with drug money

Colombia’s only former president who is not allowed entry into the United States over his ties to drug traffickers had a word of advise for the latest generation of politicians.

“The best way to combat corruption is to give a good example,” Ernesto Samper told W Radio on Tuesday without a whiff of irony.

The 1994 election of the Liberal Party mogul nearly ended diplomatic relations with the United States after investigators found his campaign had been financed by the Cali Cartel.

Samper has always maintained that he didn’t know about the millions of dollars that were used in one of drug traffickers’ most blatant attempts to avoid prosecution.

The so-called “Proceso 8,000” scandal caused a political crisis of epic proportions and resulted in the incarceration of former Defense Minister Fernando Botero, the son of the painter with the same name.

Despite his disgraced reputation, Samper was appointed Secretary General of Unasur, the union of South American nations, in 1994.