The legal team of Alvaro Uribe on Thursday rejected claims Colombia’s former president’s electoral campaigns received funds from the now-defunct Norte del Valle cartel.
Diego Leon, a.k.a. “Don Diego,” said earlier this week that his cartel provided financial resources to Uribe during his presidential campaigns in 2002 and 2006.
MORE: Imprisoned cartel boss says he financed Uribe presidential campaigns
The former president’s lawyer, Jaime Granados, vociferously defended his client and said a libel lawsuit may be forthcoming.
“President Uribe has a zero tolerance policy with this type of demonstration that only look to take revenge and revenue and wants to confuse public opinion when he is on the campaign trail,” Caracol Radio quoted Granados as saying.
Granados continued his tirade against Don Diego’s corruption allegations saying that “a complaint is fit for perjury, procedural fraud, and a lawsuit for slander. Nevertheless we are going to wait to officially have the information.”
Don Diego, an imprisoned ex-boss of the Norte del Valle Cartel issued formal testimony on Wednesday alleging that he helped finance the presidential campaigns of former Colombian President Uribe. He reportedly also admitted to funding several other politicians.
MORE: Don Diego pleads guilty in Miami
Don Diego is currently serving out a prison sentence in the United States. He is accused by the Colombian authorities of having participated in as many as 1,500 drug-related murders.
Sources
- Denunciarian a ‘Don Diego’ por vincular a Alvero Uribe con narcotrafico (Caracol Radio)
- Jaime Granados Peña (Twitter)
- Defensa de Uribe denunciara a alias Diego por calumina (El Colombiano)