President Juan Manuel Santos said he believes former President Alvaro Uribe was not involved or at fault for the immense level of corruption that is now being uncovered in Colombia.
“I can give faith that President Uribe in every moment lived vigilantly to do things with great transparency. But the mafias that were embedded inside the State are mafias that have lasted a long time and know how to hide very well. And they have uncovered various cases and will uncover others … And I think it is good for Colombia that they arise, these cases of corruption, because this means we are curing the patient,” said the head of state in an interview with Spanish news agency, ABC Internacional.
The country is currently facing a number of high-profile corruption cases including one that involves former Uribe aides and intelligence officials who allegedly illegally wiretapped political opposition, Supreme Court magistrates, journalists and human rights workers.
The mayor of Bogota, Samuel Moreno, was recently suspended by the inspector general for irregularities found during an investigation into the back-door dealings of public works contracts. The scandal also involves the mayor’s brother Senator Ivan Moreno as well as a number of other Bogota officials.
Agencies in charge of subsidies for poor farmers as well as health insurance companies in charge of distributing health care to the poor are accused of stealing millions and billions of dollars respectively through elaborate schemes.
