President Juan Manuel Santos gives his backing to National Police Chief Oscar Naranjo after a former adviser to his predecessor Alvaro Uribe attacked the officer Sunday over revelations in a series of WikiLeaks cables, Caracol Radio reports.
Santos stated that Naranjo “has my full confidence now that I am president of the republic and not only mine but that of the entire country.”
Jose Obdulio Gaviria, a former adviser to ex-President Alvaro Uribe, published a series of furious Tweets on Sunday in reaction to the release of a WikiLeaks cable from 2008.
In the cable, it was relayed how Naranjo had privately said to then-U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield that he believed that meetings in the presidential palace between government officials and the lawyer of extradited paramilitary chief Diego “Don Berna” Murillo and ex-paramilitary spokesman Antonio “Job” Lopez, had been organized by Gaviria.
Gaviria reacted, “It’s evident: Naranjo lied to the embassy (betrayal of Colombia) and the president (betrayal of the government).”
He also publicly questioned whether Naranjo would still receive the same support he has up until this point from Santos.