Proceso 8000

8,000 Process (from the Spanish Proceso 8.000) was the unofficial name of the legal investigation of the events surrounding the scandal regarding the partial financing with drug money of Liberal candidate Ernesto Samper's 1994 campaign for President of Colombia.

The investigations that dealt with the events which are about to be outlined were collectively referred to as "8,000 Process" or "Procedure 8,000", for that was the case number of the procedural document issued by the Prosecutor General's Office, which in turn was filed before Colombia's Supreme Court in 1995.

The Process formally ended in the middle-1990s.

Timeline

June 1994

*June 15: Defeated Conservative candidate Andrés Pastrana claims to have received a series of tape recordings that day by an unnamed man while he was visiting the western city of Cali. These tapes, the so called "narco-cassettes", contained hours of recordings between several members of the Colombian Liberal Party and a person speaking on behalf of the Cali cartel. [ [http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=44904 Articulo Impreso Archivado EL HOMBRE DE LOS NARCOCASETES ] ] In many of the conversations held, the contribution of huge amounts of money for the "Samper for President" political campaign was discussed. Details of how much and to what purpose the money was being given were also discussed.

*June 16: Pastrana meets the then president of Colombia, César Gaviria, and gives him a copy of these recordings.

*June 17: President Gaviria in turn, hands the tapes to the Prosecutor General of the time, Gustavo de Greiff. That same day, Pastrana made public a letter sent to Samper in which he challenged the latter into publicly swearing to renounce his recently won election, if there is any proof that any drug money entered his campaign.

*June 21: Samper not only denies such proposition but also denies any allegation of drug money entering his campaign, and requests that a formal investigation be performed on the basis of these grave accusations and evidence (narco-cassettes).

*June 22: Pastrana releases a statement clarifying how he had obtained the narco-cassettes and again demands that the elected president, Ernesto Samper, promises to renounce his position if there is any proof of drug money entering his presidential campaign.

*June 24: The Prosecutor General's Office calls to testimony some of the people mentioned in the narco-cassettes, and who allegedly benefited from this drug money; among these people were former presidential candidate Miguel Maza Márquez (also former General and Director of Colombia's Intelligence Service, - DAS -), Hernán Beltz Peralta, Álvaro Pava, César Villegas, Santiago Medina (former treasurer of the "Samper for President" campaign), Alberto Giraldo, Carlos Oviedo and Eduardo Mestre. [ [http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=44895 Articulo Impreso Archivado EL 8.000 DIA A DIA ] ]

July 1994

*July 9: Several international news agencies make reference to the existence of yet another "narco-cassette".

*July 11: The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) cancels a scheduled visit to Washington DC by Octavio Vargas and Rosso José Serrano, the then director and sub-director respectively of Colombia's National Police.

*July 13: A government office for control (the "Procuraduria General de la Nacion") states that the narco-cassettes had been edited and manipulated in order to highlight specific conversations. That same day, the Attorney General's Office reveals that a letter received by them and signed by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers (leaders of the Cali Cartel), stated that neither Samper's or Pastrana's campaign had received any money from them.

*July 14:Guillermo Pallomari (a prominent associate of the Cali Cartel) is arrested in the city of Cali and testifying before a judge admits to have worked as an accountant for the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers.

*July 15: The US Senate approves a legal amendment by which any future aid to Colombia in the fight against drugs was conditioned by a certification granted yearly by the president, Bill Clinton.

*July 26: Alfonso Valdivieso is chosen to become Colombia's new Prosecutor General once De Greiff's position ended.

August 1994

*August 13: Local news media reveal that the Cali Search Bloc (a specialized task force of Colombia's police force dedicated exclusively to capture and bring to justice leaders and top figures of the Cali Cartel), after a series of raids, found an alleged list of people paid by drug traffickers. Such list named local police officers and a former senator, Eduardo Mestre.

*August 16: Prosecutor General de Greiff orders that the case based on the narco-cassettes be suspended due to what seemed to be further lack of evidence.

*August 18: Alfonso Valdivieso is appointed as Colombia's new Prosecutor General.

*August 19: The "Procuraduria" deems de Greiff's decision as solid and credible.

eptember 1994

*September 30: Joe Toft, former DEA director for Colombia, during an interview for a local media defines Colombia as a narcodemocracy, and states that Mr. Samper's campaign was financed partially through drug money coming from the Cali Cartel.

December 1994

*December 7: President Samper and the then Secretary of Defense, Fernando Botero (also former campaign manager of the presidential campaign that took Samper to office), publicly reprimand General Camilo Hernando Zúñiga (top general of the Colombian Armed Forces at the time). The reason for this were claims that the Cali Search Bloc had rudely interrupted a party on behalf of Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela's daughter. Apparently, she was celebrating her first communion in a prominent hotel in the city of Cali.

*December 8: Prosecutor General Valdivieso denies that any such abusive behavior by police force was committed.

*December 19: Valdivieso states that he is looking into the possibility of reopening the case of the narco-cassettes.

January 1995

*January 27: Myles Frechette, the United States Ambassador to Colombia, suggests the possibility that his government, led by President Clinton, will not certify Colombia's effort on the war against drugs.

*January 30: A report published on the local Revista Cambio 16 magazine provides information that the Cali Cartel had given away T-shirts stamped with the "Samper for President" ad to several political leaders.

*January 31: Carlos Lleras de la Fuente, the Colombian Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), states before the Council of the Americas that, "the United States has a vampire complex".citequote

February 1995

*February 14: US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, states that attitude displayed by the Colombian government in the fight against drugs is not "completely satisfactory".citequote

March 1995

*March 1: The United States grants Colombia with a conditioned certification.

*March 2: The Dallas Morning News publishes an article with the testimony of a woman named María. She is the alleged witness of the conversations held by the Cali Cartel and Ernesto Samper during the 1989 presidential campaign.

*March 17: Jorge Eliécer Rodríguez Orejuela, the youngest of the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, is captured in the city of Cali.

*March 28 Newspaper "La Prensa" publishes a list of some 200 army and police officers that apparently had received money from the Cali Cartel.

April 1995

*April 4: Misael Pastrana, Former president of Colombia and father of the defeated Conservative candidate, publicly asks that the elected president "swear that he did not receive any money from the drug cartels and that he never knew that his campaign received any such money". "That should be enough", he adds.citequote President Samper, in a press conference, asks that he should be questioned on the basis of facts and not on the basis of lies and rumors. He states that his life is "an open book".citequote

*April 21: Former senator Eduardo Mestre is arrested in connection to an investigation regarding illicit increase of wealth. Prosecutor General, Alfonso Valdivieso requests that the Colombian Supreme Court to open an investigation against nine congressmen - Álvaro Benedetti, Jaime Lara, José Guerra de la Espriella, Alberto Santofimio, Armando Holguín, Ana de Petchal, Rodrigo Garavito, Yolima Espinosa and María Izquierdo - for allegedly performing bank transactions with members of the Cali Cartel during the presidential and congressional elections held in 1994. Additionally, Valdivieso requests that the Supreme Court investigates David Turbay, the "Contralor General", and orders a reopening of the case against former "Samper for President" campaign treasurer Santiago Medina.

*April 22: The Colombian Liberal Party decides to suspend the eight members of congress and the former congressman mentioned in the request that the Prosecutor General made to the Supreme Court.

*April 25: The Attorney General's Office sends a copy of a document filed under the number "8,000" to the Supreme Court of Justice. This document aims to establish and determine if in fact these nine congress people and two other public servants received money from frontstore companies associated to the Cali Cartel.

May 1995

*May 10: Luis Fernando Murcillo surrenders to the police in Bogotá city.

*May 25: Journalist Alberto Giraldo (aka "El Loco") surrenders to police authorities.

June 1995

*June 4: The nation's "Procurador General", Mr. Orlando Vásquez, is called by the Supreme Court to testify for illicit increase in his wealth.

*June 9: Gilberto Rodríguez, Cali Cartel's number one boss is captured. Prosecutor General issues an arrest warrant for journalist Alberto Giraldo.

*June 13: According to the priest and former mayor of the city of Barranquilla, Mr. Bernardo Hoyos, he spoke with members of the Cali Cartel. Additionally, he claimed that he listened to recordings and read documents that implicated a great number of members of the political sphere with money received from the Cali Cartel. Furthermore, Mr. Hoyos claimed that Miguel Rodríguez wanted to surrender under "appropriate conditions".

*June 20: Henry Loaiza, a.k.a. "El Alacrán", surrenders to police authorities in Bogotá. Attorney General's Office extends investigation under the "8,000" process to five more congress people; Francisco José Jattin, Jorge Ramón Elías Nader, Tiberio Villarreal, Álvaro Pava and Gustavo Espinosa.

*June 24: Víctor Patiño, number six in the Cali Cartel organization, surrenders in Bogotá.

*June 27: Priest Bernardo Hoyos, testifies before the Attorney General's Office based on the alleged documents and checks that were shown to him by Miguel Rodríguez.

July 1995

*July 4: José Santacruz, number three in the Cali Cartel, is captured in a northern area of Bogotá.

*July 7: Phanor Arizabaleta, fifth man on the Cali Cartel, surrenders to authorities.

*July 17: Santiago Medina testifies to the Attorney General's Office that the check for 40 million pesos (US$32.000 of the time) issued by the Cali Cartel, a check that made its way into the finances of the presidential campaign, was sent to the campaign's manager in the Valle del Cauca Department, Mr. Jorge Herrera, in order to establish its origin.

*July 20: Former consul of Colombia in Miami, Andrés Talero, testifies before the Prosecutor General's Office under sworn oath about the secret documents that Santiago Medina possesses, which in turn could prove the links between the "Samper for President" presidential campaign with the Cali Cartel.

*July 21: Jorge Herrera denies Medina's version and states that he was never asked to investigate the origins of the $40 million pesos check.

*July 24: Several journalists reveal an alleged pay off list of Miguel Rodríguez. In the list there were the names of several congressmen, political figures, and athletes. This list was abandoned in a briefcase when Rodríguez was almost captured during a raid performed by the Cali Search Bloc.

*July 26: Santiago Medina is imprisoned under the charges of illicit increase in wealth, related to having received drug money. He is also charged with lying under oath.

*July 27: In a televised address to the entire nation, president Samper states that if in deed drug money made its way into his campaign's finances, it happened "behind his back". He requested that the Accusation Commission of the Colombian Chamber of Representatives investigates him.

*July 28: Secretary of Interior, Horacio Serpa, censors the Under-prosecutor General Adolfo Salamanca, and accused him of filtering reserved information to journalists, particularly information related to the so called "8,000 process".

*July 31: In a press conference given by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Interior, Fernando Botero and Horacio Serpa respectively, they inform that they partially know the contents of the statements given to the Prosecutor by Santiago Medina. When inquired as to how they were able to access what was supposed to be a reserved document, Botero firmly states that, "the government knows of this information...", only to hesitantly look to Serpa looking for an answer. Serpa is caught off guard, but rapidly answers, "The government knows of this reserved document...through an anonymous source!", and quickly adds, "because we live in the country of anonymous sources!". According to both secretaries Medina's statements "turn on a fan with the sole intent of tarnishing the President". Both secretaries assured those present in the press conference that they would undertake any responsibility of any wrongdoing during the previous presidential campaign in question.

August 1995

*August 1: The delegate commission of the Prosecutor General's Office which serves before the Supreme Justice Court is asked to initiate the appropriate inquiries against Secretaries Fernando Botero and Armando Benedetti.

*August 2: Secretary of Defense, Fernando Botero, resigns from his post. He states that he does so in order to face the accusations made against him by Santiago Medina. The complete testimony made by Santiago Medina is published. The Prosecutor General's Office initiates the investigations for the apparently violation of reserved documents done by Fernando Botero.

*August 3: Former consul in Miami, Andrés Talero, denounces that his apartment was ransacked. Additionally, warehouses and apartments of key witnesses in the "8.000 processes" have been ransacked.

*August 4: The Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives officially receives the copies of the evidence held against President Samper in the "8.000 process".

*August 6: Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela is captured in Cali.

*August 8: Weekly Colombian magazine "Semana" reveals a new tape in which President Samper is recorded while speaking to Elizabeth Montoya de Sarria, the wife of a convicted drug dealer. In this tape Samper is heard referring to her as "Monita Retrechera" in what appears to be very friendly terms. In the same issue, "Semana" reveals that former Secretary of Defense Fernando Botero ordered under irregular circumstances the transfer of Víctor Patiño from a prison near Cali, to a prison in Bogotá.

*August 9: President Samper empowers attorney Antonio José Cancino to represent him before the Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives.

*August 10: Cancino states before the commission that he possesses unedited and irrefutable evidence to prove that the allegations against Samper are lies. Former Conservativecandidate Andrés Pastrana states in the news program CM& that the different versions regarding alleged checks of drug lords issued towards his campaign are unfounded and requests 15 minutes of airtime on national TV to present his case to the public opinion.

*August 15: Former Defense Secretary Botero is arrested and his file is added to the "8.000 process". During a heated debate of the "8.000 process" in the House of Representatives, Secretary of Interior Serpa makes a pungent defense of the President and ferverously states, "Is the President going to quit? "Mamola"!!". "Mamola" is Colombian slang for "No Way".

*August 17: In a televised address, Andrés Pastrana suggests that the President should request a leave of absence until the investigations are completed.

*August 22: Publicist Mauricio Montejo testifies that journalist Alberto Giraldo delivered to him 300 million pesos (approximately US$ 240.000 of the time) on behalf of the "Samper for President" campaign, as payment for his job in the publicity ads.

*August 24: Jacquin Strouss, Colombia's First lady, testifies before the Prosecutor General's Office.

*August 28: Secretary of Interior Serpa appears before the Prosecutor General's Office to give his version of how the reserved statements made by former campaign treasurer Santiago Medina ended in the government's possession (see the July 31, 1995 entry).

*August 31: The Ethics Committee of the Liberal Party decides to temporarily suspend former Secretary Botero and former campaign treasurer Medina.

eptember 1995

*September 4: Several news media reveal that Elizabeth Montoya de Sarria (see entry: August 6, 1995) donated 32 million pesos (US$26.000) in cash to the "Samper for President" campaign.

*September 5: The President's defense attorney states that during the presidential campaign, certain individuals illegally benefited themselves by appropriating some of the donated money.

*September 6: Santiago Medina gives further details to the Prosecutor General's Office.

*September 19: The public opinion is informed that former accountant to the Cali Cartel, Guillermo Pallomari, has struck a deal with the DEA and is surrendering to them.

*September 22: In a letter sent to Santiago Medina, Miguel Rodríguez states that the check for 40 million pesos was in regards to the purchase of some artworks and that this sum of money had nothing to do with the campaign.

*September 26: President Samper testifies for at least nine hours before the President of the Accusation Committee of the House of Representative, Heine Mogollón. As he exits this event, the Head of State states, "I found myself in a complex and artificial mesh filled with lies". Heine Mogollón admits before several news media that he used a loan from Finagro in the amount of 19 million pesos; such loan was used to finance his own campaign for representative. The Supreme Court investigates Rodrigo Garavito for allegedly committing illicit increase in wealth.

*September 27: The President's attorney, Antonio José Cancino is shot by unknown assailants in Bogotá. Cancino survives and his wounds are initially treated in the Central Military Hospital. The head director of the DAS (Colombia's Intelligence Service), Ramiro Bejarano, claims that national and foreign organizations are behind this attack. Secretary of Interior Serpa suggests that the hypothesis of the DEA being involved in this attack is not so far fetched.

*September 28: Chancellor Rodrigo Pardo, while in an official visit to the US, quickly disapproves of and disregards Serpa's comments. The US government emphatically rejects these accusations made by Serpa and holds the Colombian government responsible for the security of its nationals in Colombia. Under Prosecutor General, Adolfo Salamanca, states during and interview to CM& news that in fact the Liberal Party received drug money for its campaign. He adds that it is now time for his office to determine those responsible and directly involved.

References