Colombia’s electoral authority opened an investigation into the campaign of President Ivan Duque whose 2018 election has been marred by fraud allegations.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) will be investigating the alleged fraud of Duque’s Democratic Center Party (CD) based on evidence the far-right party conspired with a drug trafficking organization to rig the election and claims they illegally received funding from a Venezuelan oil tycoon.
The evidence is derived from investigations into Jose Guillermo Hernandez, the late money launderer of the drug trafficking organization of Marquitos Figueroa, and former President Alvaro Uribe, who is currently under house arrest.
In the wiretaps of the money launderer called “El Ñeñe,” Uribe’s former personal assistant Maria Claudia Daza was conspiring with the late mafia figure to move “money under the table” ahead of the second round of the 2018 elections.
CD president Nubia Stella Martinez was wiretapped saying she received $300,000 from “the Venezuelan” while Daza was being wiretapped as part of the ongoing witness tampering investigation against Uribe, the boss of the CD.
The Colombian company of Venezuelan oil tycoon Oswaldo Cisneros contributed to Duque’s campaign, according to political news website La Silla Vacia.
The CNE investigation will be carried out by magistrates Jaime Luis Lacauture of the Conservative Party, Virgilio Almanza who represents the center right Liberal Party, U Party and Radical Change, and Cesar Abreo of the Liberal Party.
The participation of Lacauture is controversial as he campaigned for Duque in the northern La Guajira province where the narcos vowed to support Duque’s presidential ambitions.
The CNE called both Daza and Martinez in for questioning on Tuesday.
Additionally, the electoral authority said it wanted to talk to fugitive politician Aida Merlano, who accused Duque of being personally informed of vote-buying in the Atlantico province.
President Ivan Duque is being investigated by Congress’ Accusation Committee and Uribe is being investigated by the Supreme Court as they allegedly took part in the election fraud.
The Prosecutor General’s Office is supposed to be investigating the suspects who do not enjoy presidential or congressional privileges, but the office of chief prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, a personal friend of the president, jailed the policemen who coincidentally discovered the election fraud conspiracy while investigating a homicide.
