The guilty plea of
Mira Senator Alexandra Moreno sought to establish regulation whereupon the candidate for promotion should be publicly announced by the presidency and an open judicial process would ensure the virtue of the candidate.
“That is outrageous and unacceptable.”
“When the country is in a process of purification it is only healthy that its institutions know the truth,” said Barreras.
Santoyo, who in November will be sentenced for his ties to terrorist organizations, was named Uribe’s personal security chief in 2002 after having provided protection while the former president was on campaign. By then he already was spying for the paramilitary AUC and was at that moment being investigated for the illegal spying on a human rights organization in Medellin, an investigation that was not abandoned until 2003 due to lack of evidence, according to the IPC press agency.
Although acquitted by the prosecutor general’s office, Santoyo was handed down a punitive ruling, barring him from holding public office for five years. This sanction was suspended by the Council of State in 2005 which ruled that Santoyo could remain active while his appeal was in progress, and the following year the then Defense Minister and current president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, ordered his provisional reinstatement by Decree 2635 of December 2006.
This ruling allowed Santoyo to be promoted to Brigadier General in 2007, which eight senators voted for and four against. The promotion had in any case been signed by Uribe two days previously.