The controversial case of the computerized espionage system, known as Pegasus, has regained strength after the recent statements by the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, in an interview conducted by the Telesur channel, in which he denounced that this software, developed in Israel, It is being used to destabilize the governments of Venezuela and Colombia.
The controversy gains even greater strength after recent journalistic investigations that reveal that during Duque’s term, the company NSO Group, creator of Pegasus, was hired to acquire the software for the amount of 11 million dollars, with money allegedly coming from drug trafficking. , which would have been paid entirely in cash and in two parts of 5.5 million each, and sent directly to Israel.
As a consequence, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has announced the call for a security summit between his country, Venezuela and Mexico, since the espionage actions of the system created in Israel have also included the government of the outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The main objective will be to address the impact of this spy program, which has been linked to the surveillance of progressive governments in the region and then overthrow them.
The meeting promoted by Colombia aims to clarify the extent of espionage in the region and guarantee that the human rights and sovereignty of the progressive governments, which have been the target of these operations, are respected.
Recently, the Colombian senator of the U Party, Antonio Correa, denounced in an interview that the use of Pegasus coincides with the acts of destabilization in Venezuela since the end of the last decade, added to the attempts to overthrow President Maduro, as part of the plan to remove progressive presidents in the region from power.
The action in Venezuela
Reviewing a little of the background of the case, it is worth remembering that the espionage system took off during the government of Iván Duque in Colombia, not only to intercept telephone conversations of his political adversaries, but also as a resource to execute conspiratorial plans against the Government. from Venezuela.
In this context, President Nicolás Maduro, in the aforementioned interview, stated that, through the Pegasus system, Iván Duque managed to access the phones “of important political, social and military leaders in Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan president added that Duque was always supporting “Juan Guaidó to carry out a coup d’état. “We were informed in real time of how it was used to conspire and try to kill important leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution and start a persecution against me.” Likewise, he assured that US agencies such as the DEA and the CIA have installed a bunker in Bogotá, a place where they plan to recruit hitmen to carry out these plans.
Background
In the case of our country, in August 2022, an investigation carried out by journalist Edinson Bolaños was published in the Colombian magazine Raya, in which it is stated that, at that time, the espionage and destabilization operation against the Venezuelan State, which was called the Genesis project, and the hypothesis of war against Venezuela, Blanco Z2.
The Colombian intelligence agencies carried out espionage without a court order and against the National Intelligence Law of Colombia, thus creating a scenario of extreme tension between both countries.
The infiltration, espionage and discredit plans against the diplomatic corps and the Venezuelan Government were just the tip of the iceberg of the entire plot that was woven against the country from abroad by orders of Iván Duque and Donald Trump.
The Colombian intelligence agency had 28 sources within Venezuelan state forces. From a brigadier general from the state of Mérida, who was entrusted with achieving more cooperating objectives within the uniformed personnel.
This network of informants was made up of colonels, lieutenants, ship lieutenants, frigate lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, officers of the Bolivarian Navy, members of the police and members of the militia.
Through this operation, they managed to obtain information about the status of the Aerospace Defense System and the instruction and training plans, in case there was a military uprising of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, or in case of a military invasion by the United States. which was not ruled out, according to Colombian military intelligence documents.
Other objectives achieved by the Duque government’s Colombian intelligence were: gaining access to the main exercises and maneuvers carried out in different regions of Venezuela; take photographs and collect sensitive information within the Fanb; spy on political figures at regional levels of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela to build their profiles and make reports on the occasions in which the nation acted against the provocations of the United States Government, a country that attempted to violate Venezuelan air and maritime spaces.
Colombian intelligence would also have proposed accessing the server of the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense.
In a work published by Vincenzo Caruso in several national newspapers, it is pointed out that recent revelations from the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) of Colombia have brought to light a plot of espionage and manipulation that involves former president Iván Duque and radical sectors of the opposition. Venezuelan.
Caruso adds that “the DNI report reveals that Duque did not act alone; His ambition was fueled by the desperation and unscrupulousness of those who, unable to build, chose to destroy. Using Pegasus, he sought to infiltrate the private lives of Venezuelan officials.”
Likewise, he stated that “by using this software, Duque sought to shape the future of Venezuela according to his own interests, playing with the lives and decisions of thousands of people. “It is not only an act of espionage, but a reflection of a will to power that, faced with its inability to influence legitimately, resorts to the most sinister tools to impose its vision of the world.”
drug laundering
Jorge Lemus, director of the DNI, confirmed that the purchase of the software was made between June and September 2021, by transferring $11 million in cash from Bogotá to Tel Aviv.
The funds, which came from seizures from drug trafficking cartels, were not reported to the Colombian tax authorities, which constitutes a money laundering crime.
“They knew they were committing a crime, that’s why they acted covertly,” Lemus said.
Israeli journalist Gur Megiddo, cited in the report, noted that the transaction generated alerts at Hapoalim Bank in Israel due to the large amount of cash involved and its possible relationship with illegal activities.
