• by Constanza Vieira (bogotÁ)
• Wednesday, November 03, 2010
• Inter Press Service

'I am Piedad Córdoba: a feminist, humanist and pacifist.'

This is how the liberal Colombian senator, a fierce critic of the government of former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), has been introducing herself since the office of the inspector general claimed she had an alias used in supposed correspondence found on computers seized from the left-wing guerrillas.

'I am neither 'Teodora Bolívar' nor 'Teodora de Bolívar',' Córdoba has repeatedly stated. Anyone who knows her knows she would never use the phrase 'mi comandante Chávez' ('my commander Chávez' -- a reference to Venezuela's leftist president), as the inspector general's office claims she wrote.

Inspector general Alejandro Ordóñez confirmed a Sept. 27 decision last week that removed Córdoba from the Senate and barred her from holding public office for 18 years.

Ordóñez accuses her of 'numerous repeated proven acts of collaboration with and promotion of' the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) a peasant-based, Marxist group that took up arms in 1964.

The charges were brought against Córdoba despite the fact that she has publicly stated that armed struggle makes no sense in a region which is mainly governed today by progressive governments. The Liberal Party senator herself, who has served four terms in Congress (1994-2010), has close ties to many of these governments in South America.

The inspector general says the evidence against Córdoba was found in files on laptops seized when FARC chief Raúl Reyes was killed in 2008. However, the legality of the computers as evidence is in dispute.

(see sidebar)

In 2007, Córdoba was an official government mediator in talks with the FARC for the release of hostages. Along with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, she brokered the release of 14 of the hostages held by the rebels with the hope of swapping them for imprisoned guerrillas. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

But Ordóñez says the laptop files show that she had 'exceeded her functions as well as the authorisation she was given by the government to negotiate a humanitarian exchange.'

Córdoba, who is fighting it out in the courts, has been added to the list of people barred from public office over the past year by Ordóñez. The list is dominated by corrupt politicians of all levels, including a former member of Uribe's cabinet.

Six of the people on the list are politicians convicted of collaboration with the far-right paramilitary groups who have committed gross human rights violations, and an army general who was found guilty of forced disappearance.

The names also include those of two former heads of the Administrative Security Department (DAS), Colombia's main intelligence agency, and Uribe's legal secretary. The three were involved in illegal espionage by the DAS on Supreme Court judges and government opponents like Córdoba.

Córdoba's defence attorneys argue that only the Council of State -- the appellate court for civil cases -- can remove a member of Congress. A group of senators are drafting a motion aimed at getting that rule enforced.

But last week, the president of the Council of State, Luis Fernando Álvarez, said Córdoba must step down until it rules on her case -- a process that is expected to take two years.

The senator can ask for a temporary suspension of the decision to remove her from the Senate, 'But that must be decided by the judge who handles the case,' Álvarez said.

The Supreme Court, in the meantime, has six months to decide whether the inspector general overstepped his authority.

The Supreme Court is also investigating whether Córdoba 'promoted and collaborated' with the FARC.

So far, the Court has taken sworn statements about her from some 50 witnesses, including police and military hostages who were released by the FARC in operations brokered by Córdoba, as well as a number of demobilised FARC rebels and other peace mediators who have dealt directly with the guerrillas.

Perhaps as a ploy to reinforce the allegations against the senator that are based on alleged evidence from the laptops, a few months ago a man with an Italian accent who claimed to be Ukrainian appeared on the scene and approached Córdoba, offering weapons for the FARC.

The senator says she reported the proposition from the shady character to then minister of the interior and justice Fabio Valencia.

It turned out that the Ukrainian mercenary had come to Colombia in search of the juicy rewards that the government offers in exchange for information leading to the capture of guerrilla leaders.

The Supreme Court is investigating his allegations against Córdoba.

Last week, Supreme Court investigators reportedly questioned several witnesses in a restaurant outside the western city of Cali where Córdoba was attending a meeting during her election campaign when she was approached by the mercenary.

Twelve people were arrested as a result of the Ukrainian's testimony, although eight of them have already been released.

'It's good that they're investigating,' Córdoba told IPS.

'The persecution that the Court has suffered was appalling,' she added, referring to the severe pressure brought to bear on the magistrates by the Uribe administration, which ordered the DAS to spy on their private legal discussions and even on their families.

Córdoba actually plans to ask the Court to collect more testimony about her, especially from former DAS officials and agents who have confessed to involvement in the illegal spying in exchange for lighter sentences.

The senator wants the Court, in her case, to ask the former DAS officials and agents how they spied on her, who gave the orders, and with whom the agency was working in the smear campaigns against dissidents like her.

'Former President Álvaro Uribe is responsible for the whole thing; he knew about everything that was going on,' Córdoba says.

On her return from the Buenos Aires funeral of her friend Néstor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina (2003-2007) who died suddenly of a heart attack last week, she announced that in a few days, she would be back at her seat in the Senate 'as usual.'

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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