Former attorney general Francisco Barbosa says state agencies spied on him while he led Colombia’s prosecution service. He alleges they used wiretaps, physical surveillance and searches of state databases during his term under former president Gustavo Petro. Barbosa plans to file a criminal complaint on Monday 5 October, describing the operations as “one of the gravest attacks on judicial independence in Colombia’s recent history.”
The agencies under scrutiny
Barbosa alleges that the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) and the Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) took part in the surveillance. The UIAF tracks suspicious money flows for the Finance Ministry. According to La Opinión, Barbosa says the alleged monitoring aimed to intimidate prosecutors investigating people close to Petro. Martha Mancera, his former deputy, was allegedly watched too.
Barbosa says he’ll ask the Fiscalía, the office he once ran, to investigate whoever ordered, carried out or covered up the operations. He wants the inquiry to move quickly, “so that time does not erase the criminal traces,” Infobae quoted him as saying. He has also asked the DNI and UIAF to hand over and preserve documents, work orders and records concerning him. The Fiscalía must decide whether and how to investigate once he files the complaint. No one has been charged.
The allegations concern the use of state intelligence and financial-analysis bodies against a former head of the prosecution service and, according to the claims, people connected to investigations involving Petro’s associates. They remain unproven. No court has ruled on them, and everyone named is presumed innocent.
Audit raises questions about intelligence power
The claims follow a forensic audit of the DNI ordered by President Abelardo de la Espriella. The right-wing lawyer took office in August, and Semana published the audit findings on Saturday. Auditors collected 147 terabytes of data, 40 computers and five phones or tablets, according to the magazine. They classified more than 100 DNI staff members as a critical or high security risk.
Semana wrote that the agency became “a kind of political police” under Petro. The magazine questioned a drone purchased for COP 9 billion, about US$2.7 million, that crashed in the Catatumbo region. It also reported that weekly intelligence reports reached Petro. A UIAF source told Semana that anyone who “smells of uribismo,” the movement of former president Álvaro Uribe, was watched.
Semana’s list of alleged targets includes former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, former Inspector General Margarita Cabello and former Comptroller Carlos Felipe Córdoba. It also names right-wing politicians María Fernanda Cabal and Paloma Valencia, as well as retired generals Eduardo Zapateiro and Luis Fernando Navarro. La FM reported a similar list on Saturday. Alleged targeting of political opponents and former public officials puts the agencies’ conduct at the heart of questions about oversight and judicial independence.
No findings have been tested in court
Reports published on Saturday included no response from Petro or the five men who ran the DNI under him. The DNI had earlier rejected accusations from de la Espriella and asked for evidence, Semana noted. Petro’s political opponent commissioned the audit, and its findings remain allegations.
The DNI replaced the DAS in 2011, after the agency spied on Supreme Court judges, journalists and opposition figures. That scandal, known locally as the “chuzadas” or wiretaps, hit the government of Álvaro Uribe. Barbosa’s complaint is due Monday 5 October. The DNI and UIAF must respond to his records requests, while the Fiscalía must decide whether to open an investigation.