The coalition wants Córdoba investigated, after she had said “the heads of state of Venezuela, Ecuador and Brazil were well aware of the presence of ‘Raúl Reyes’ on their territory” during a speech in Cali. “We recommend the president to take the necessary actions and let the Justice Department find out how much Senator Córdoba knows” said senator Gabriel Zapata of Equipo Colombia.During a plenary session on wednesday of the Senate, Córdoba came under heavy fire from her collegues and chairman of the Senate, Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez.The debate began after Gutiérrez had reprimanded Córdoba for saying “the Colombian government, including 40 percent of the Senate” are mafioso and had asked other Latin American governments to break off diplomatic relations with the Uribe government. “You can’t just go strolling around the world, degrading your own country” the chairman told Córdoba.The chairman also openly asked Córdoba who is paying for all her foreign trips.Córdoba defended herself saying she “can not choose between the guerrillas and the institutions. (…) I am bothered that we have a Congress where there are a lot of people commited to paramilitarism”. Córdoba’s time to respond was cut short by chairman Gutiérrez.Senator Córdoba, together with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, was assigned official negotiator to force the release of some hostages. Córdoba and Chávez were relieved of their duty after the Colombian government thought the two were handling things too independently.
Piedad Córdoba under growing pressure from Uribistas
