Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said Wednesday that there exists no evidence to suggest that Israeli spyware Pegasus continues to be used in Colombia.
Velasquez talked to the press after a closed session of Congress about the purchase of the software under former President Ivan Duque in 2021.
The senate had called the minister and the commanders of the security forces to Congress to update its intelligence and counterintelligence commission on their internal Pegasus investigation.
This investigation established that those who allegedly purchased and possibly used Pegasus left no traces in the security forces’ records or hardware, Velasquez told the press.
If a piece of equipment was used to manipulate the software, it is common sense that, given the dimensions of the scandal, this equipment is destroyed and we are unlikely to find it in any office, residence or anywhere in the country. We must determine how it was acquired, who acquired it and, possibly, against whom it was used.
Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez
The minister additionally said that the administration of President Gustavo Petro at no point authorized the extension of a Pegasus license after taking office in August of 2022.
Prosecutor General Luz Adriana Camargo confirmed to newspaper El Tiempo that Israel’s financial intelligence unit provided evidence about the purchase of Pegasus to the National Police’s intelligence directorate Dipol.
Colombia’s migration authority additionally found that executives of Israeli arms manufacturer NSO Group traveled to Bogota in private planes in June and September of 2021.
Some of these NSO Group representatives reported to Migration that they would be staying at the National Police’s Officers’ Club in Bogota, according to an investigation by public television network Señal Colombia and news website Revista Raya.
Among the Israeli delegates were engineers that could have helped the security forces to set up Pegasus and get full access to targeted cellphones.
According to Camargo, prosecutors have begun interrogating former Duque aides about their possible involvement in the purchase and use of the Israeli spyware during anti-government protests in 2021.
Among others, prosecutors summoned Duque’s former administration director, Victor Muñoz, and former deputy Defense Minister Jairo Garcia.