Who is who in the alleged letter from the Rodríguez Orejuela to Pastrana

September 8, 2021 – 15:55 m.

Brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, ex-offenders of the Cali Cartel, reappeared on behalf of a letter allegedly sent to former President Andrés Pastrana after statements made by the former president to the Truth Commission ago a few days. In their communication, the extradited narcos mentioned several people who worked in the government and, according to them, were the bridge between the Rodriguez brothers and ex-leader. en the Spectator we explained to them who are the ones mentioned in this letter.

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the senders

Brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, who allegedly sent the letter to Pastrana, were the main leaders of the Cali Cartel in the 1980s and 1990s. For the presidential campaign in the 1994-1998 period, where he went to be chosen Ernesto Samper, by the Liberal party, was accused to him to have financed its campaign with money of the powerful caleño poster, scandal that was well-known like Process 8,000. Several witnesses have testified to the entry of this money into the presidential campaign.

Read also: Pastrana fired a shot to the foot

Nevertheless, in the letter of the last days the condemned narcos give to understand would not have been not only the campaign of Samper which would have received money, but also the one of Pastrana in 1994 and 1998, this last one of which left like winner . “As you and the people who know us know, we are liberals of colorful bones, but above all we are Democrats. For this last reason we have helped both Liberals and Conservatives in the last 50 years of the last century. Their campaign does not could be an exception and of this an exceptional witness could be Dr. Álvaro Pava son “, it is read in the letter.

For now, Gilberto Rodriguez, also known as The Chess, he is serving a 30-year prison sentence in the United States and asked to be released on clemency. Also, his brother Miguel is serving a sentence in the same country until 2030.

the recipient

Former President Andrés Pastrana, to whom the letter was addressed, was in the Truth Commission a week ago. Appearing on the work of his government and brought to light an old letter in which the Rodriguez Orejuela claimed to have given money to the presidential campaign of Ernesto Samper and involved the late Horacio Serpa. According to the new communication that appeared this week, in the opinion sent by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Pastrana apparently demanded that they write this confession through blackmail.

You may be interested: Pastrana went against Samper in an appearance before the Truth Commission

According to the letter, Pastrana’s alleged demand on Rodríguez Orejuela occurred between 1999-2000, when Gilberto and Miguel were imprisoned in the Picota prison in Bogotá. According to the letter, the former Conservative president was upset with them over an alleged discredit plan between the narcos, Samper and Serpa, over the Chambacú and Dragacol corruption scandals.

The Presidential Physician

According to the letter, allegedly sent by the leaders of the Cali Cartel, Santiago Rojas, who was a doctor of the Presidency during the term of Andrés Pastrana, was the one who commanded the reasons between the then president and the imprisoned drug traffickers. The statement said that the doctor was the one who contacted the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers around the year 2000 at the request of Pastrana to ask them to make a statement that would muddy the former president Ernesto Samper and Horacio Serpa.

In context: In supposed mail signed by the Rodríguez Orejuela throw pulles in Pastrana

Dr. Rojas, who at the time also supported resocialization programs with the INPEC, would have told the Rodriguez Orejuelas that they would be extradited if they did not accede to Pastrana’s alleged request. “The president says the only solution he sees possible is for you to write a letter explaining how you supported Samper’s campaign, also involving Serpa,” the doctor would have told them, according to the letter.

Samper and Serpa

Former President Ernesto Samper, also mentioned in the letter sent by the leaders of the Cali Cartel to Andrés Pastrana, was repeatedly pointed out by drug traffickers that he had received money to finance his campaign for the presidency. in the period 1994-1998. According to this week’s letter, when Pastrana was already in power, the then president believed that Samper was planning a smear campaign against him and was allying with the narcos for them.

Also, according to the document, the Rodríguez Orejuela answered at that time to the doctor Santiago Rojas, who had no interest in making a scandal and no longer had communication with the former president.

Read also: The 8,000 process, 20 years after the biggest scandal

Horacio Serpa, who died in October 2020, was Minister of the Interior in the Samper government (1994-1998). According to the letter, Pastrana asked the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers to also point him out for having received money from drug trafficking, which the leaders of the Cali Cartel had initially refused because, according to them, Serpa never they handed him a weight.

the Pava

Álvaro Pava Enganyifa, currently Colombia’s ambassador to Argentina, was mentioned in the alleged letter of the brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, because he was one of the main directors of Pastrana’s campaign for the presidency for the period 1998-2002. According to the document, Álvaro Pava and his brother, the late Humberto Pava Enganyifa, had approaches with members of the Cali Cartel to help with the electoral contest of that time.

According to the letter, the contact between the Pava and the Rodriguez Orejuela occurred through the dead Antiochian journalist Alberto Giraldo, who was the public relations of the Cartel of Cali. The journalist had to pay five years in prison for illicit enrichment for money related to drug trafficking.