Ex-congressman arrested on corruption charges

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-congressman arrested on corruption charges
Thursday, 24 February 2011 10:57 Marguerite Cawley

Former congressman Hector Jose Ospina has been detained on charges of corruption, El Espectador reported Thursday.

Ospina was arrested in Bogota Thursday morning by agents from the Technical Investigation Team (CTI) of the prosecutor's office in the north of Bogota, on orders of the Supreme Court of Justice.

According to an article from Radio Santa Fe, the arrest concerns alleged payments the former House representative for the Conservative Party made to subordinates in order to finance his political activity.

Among other things, writes El Espectador, charges against Ospina include allegedly offering approximately $157,000 to congressman Jose Antonio Mora to hand over his seat.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/14576-ex-congressman-arrested-on-corruption-charges.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. Colombia was being run as a criminal enterprise--with our money ($7 BILLION) and the Bush Junta

aiding and abetting.

That picture is becoming inescapable. Nearly EVERYONE in power felt free to bribe, bully, kill, steal, lie and spy--believing that they were immune. Criminal regimes like the Bush Junta positively recruit corruptible people because they can so easily be controlled. Uribe was a subcontractor of the Bush Junta, and exactly like them, but with more license to kill his own people, with the U.S. "war on drugs" and "war on terror" as his cover.

I think the overall purpose was consolidation of the trillion dollar-plus cocaine revenue stream and control of it in fewer hands but there were sub-purposes, such as terrorizing trade unions and the left in preparation for U.S. "free trade for the rich" and removal of masses of peasant farmers (5 million!) both for big cocaine production, corporate ag and resource rape, and for creating a slave labor force in urban areas for corporate operations.

This case is just one more example--of hundreds--of the absolute filthiness and lawlessness of the Uribe regime. And I guess the honor and active protection that the U.S. has given to Uribe is no more appalling than the honor and active protection that our president and justice system have given to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, et al. But it still rankles that Uribe has escaped all consequences and is teaching at Georgetown and Harvard.

[joshcryer]

2. FARC

[Wilms]

3. Pleasantly surprised.

I hope it's more "change" than not.

[joshcryer]

4. I believe Santos is sincere with his crackdowns.

He's going after everyone, FARC, paramilitaries, Uribe admin. It's amazing. Colombia is going to become a beacon for Latin America.

Now if only the USA could fix it's failed drug policy.