The acquisition of Pegasus spyware continues to be in the spotlight of public debate in Colombia. The discussion has intensified even more after it became known that the resources for its purchase had allegedly been provided by the US government.
Within the framework of the celebration of the 105 years of the Colombian Air Force (now Aerospace Force), President Gustavo Petro referred to this casepointing out that it would be a violation of national sovereignty. Although he never spoke directly about Pegasus, in one of the sections of his speech it was understood that he mentioned this controversy.
“Cyber defense is not the same as espionage and in that we must draw a border. Having software to hunt down gangsters is not the same as doing it without a court order. Unless the 1991 Constitution is useless. Unless our democracy has been weakenedindicated the president.
The head of state also mentioned that It would be an issue of sovereigntysince this Friday it was confirmed that the decision to buy the program was made without the approval of the then president, Iván Duque. In that sense, he highlighted that “Our sovereignty is not just about waving our flag, it is that the main decisions that are made in Colombia are made by Colombians. If they are made by other types of people, whoever they want them to be, then we have lost sovereignty.”
On the other hand, President Petro indicated that the discussions that will take place with the United States “they will be intense and complex” and that must be guided by a basic principle: “The president is there to enforce national sovereignty. That sovereignty is not only about the directions that Colombia should take, it also has to do with the issue of knowing and understanding this cyber defense, which must be in national hands.”
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President Gustavo Petro
Presidency
What does the United States have to do with it?
Two senior officials from Joe Biden’s administration, in Washington and another in Bogotá, authorized to speak on the subject, revealed to EL TIEMPO that the US government was not only aware of the purchase of Pegasus spy software in Colombiabut, in addition, it was said country that financed its acquisition.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office have been carrying out investigations regarding the acquisition of this program. At the moment, it has been announced that There was an operation for 11 million dollars that arrived in Israel in cash and that coincided with the landing of two flights that departed from Tel-Aviv and landed at the Anti-Narcotics base of the Colombian Police, in Bogotá.
According to officials, plans to acquire the software materialized during 2020 and were not shared with Colombian President Iván Duque. In fact, they were emphatic that the use of Pegasus was suspended in 2022, before Gustavo Petro became president of the Republic.
PORTFOLIO
*With information from EL TIEMPO – POLITICS
