The United States confirms having financed the purchase of the Pegasus system

He Pegasus softwarewhich according to President Gustavo Petro It was acquired by the previous Government for political espionage, In reality, it was purchased with financing from the United States as part of its collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking..

This was reported this Friday by the newspaper El Tiempo, which quotes two unidentified sources from the US Government in Washington and another in Bogotá to point out: “The State Government was not only aware of the purchase of the Pegasus software in Colombia but, in addition, it was that country that financed its acquisition“.

The officials’ version represents a turnaround in the investigation that the Colombian head of state has demanded, who last month asked the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office (Public Ministry) to move forward on this matter.

The purchase of the software, developed by the Israeli company NSO Grouphas been the subject of scrutiny in Colombia after Petro revealed in September that the Government of his predecessor, Iván Duque, bought it in 2021 to allegedly spy on opponents during the social protests at that time.

He Colombian ambassador in Washington, Daniel García-Peñahe told reporters this Friday, after meeting with US officials, who assured him “which were effectively North American resources used for the acquisition of the Pegasus software“, which was for “a use in the fight against drug trafficking and that its use was directed exclusively at the drug cartels of Colombia and Mexico“.

Colombian authorities have so far found no traces of the espionage program.

Two versions

According to what Petro said last September, the acquisition of Pegasus It cost 11 million dollars that were paid in cash and transferred on two flights from Bogotá to Tel Aviv in June and September 2021..

Last October, Petro accused Ran Gonen, global security director at NSO Technologies, of money launderingfor allegedly receiving five million dollars in cash as part of payment for the software, an amount that should have been declared.

Why Pegasus is trending.

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Pegasus can facilitate wiretapping, e-mail and text communication spying through applications such as WhatsApp and the scanning of documents contained in the memory of mobile phones, reasons why their purchase in other countries has been a source of controversy.

According to El Tiempo, United States government officials denied any information suggesting that Pegasus was improperly used to monitor Colombian political figures and that some illicit payment was made for the purchase.

“We want to be very clear that this was done in a way in which there was no illicit payment. It was the United States that financed the purchase by Colombia“said the source, quoted by the Bogotá newspaper.

Petro reaction

The information from El Tiempo adds that, according to one of the people consulted, the United States committed to providing these funds in 2020, and “this administration ended the program in 2022 before President Petro took office“.

“If this is true, things would be worse.“Petro wrote on his X account.

Later, in a speech on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the Colombian Air Force (FAC), the president warned that “Having software to hunt down gangsters is not the same as doing so without a court order, unless the 1991 Constitution is of no use.“.

“Cyber ​​defense is not the same as espionage“he insisted, adding:”Our sovereignty is not just about raising a flag, but the main decisions that are made in Colombia are made by Colombians. If other types of people take them, whatever their motives, then we have lost sovereignty“.

After the diary’s revelation, the Representative to the Chamber, Alejandro Ocampo, of the Historical PactPetro’s coalition, sent a letter to the United States ambassador to Colombia, Francisco Palmieriin which he requests a meeting to clarify the journalistic information.

“It is essential for the Congress of the Republic and for Colombian society that fundamental rights are respected and guaranteed, in particular the right to privacy and political freedom, without the risk of undue interference.“Ocampo said in the letter to the diplomat.

EFE