Colombia’s Sen. Piedad C贸rdoba interrogated by US immigration

Bill Weinberg

Colombian Senator Piedad C贸rdoba was held by US immigration authorities at New York’s JFK airport June 27, to be interrogated about her alleged ties to the FARC鈥攄espite her diplomatic visa. “When I left customs, I was retained for two and a half hours,” she told Colombia’s Caracol Radio. “I think they wanted to send me back to Colombia. All my papers were photocopied. I had brought denunciations to deliver to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. They photocopied everything, my phones and personal belongings too.”

C贸rdoba said that she wasn鈥檛 allowed to leave until she had had contact with US assistant secretary of state Thomas Shannon and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. She suggested the detainment was triggered by official objections from Colombia’s consul in New York, Fransisco Noguera, to her speaking at the Venezuelan consul about efforts to have FARC hostages released. She said she is considering filing charges against US authorities. (Colombia Reports, June 28)

C贸rdoba has been at the center of several political controversies in Colombia recently. Earlier this month, demobilized paramilitary leader Jorge Iv谩n “El Iguano” Laverde Zapata, former commander of the AUC’s Catacumbo bloc, testified that former deputy director of Colombia’s Administrative Security Department (DAS), Jos茅 Miguel Narv谩ez, was involved in the 1999 abduction of C贸rdoba and the murder of journalist and comedian Jaime Garz贸n. Laverde said Narv谩ez instigated AUC leader Carlos Casta帽o to murder Garz贸n and ordered the kidnapping of senator C贸rdoba. (Colombia Reports, June 17)

Days earlier, the Colombian magazine Semana reported that C贸rdoba advised the FARC not to release French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. The magazine examined 900 e-mails mentioning C贸rdoba found on the computer allegedly taken from slain FARC commander Ra煤l Reyes. The files indicate C贸rdoba was already in touch with the FARC before the Colombian government assigned her and Venezuela President Hugo Ch谩vez to mediate with the rebels in October 2007.

A Dec. 11, 2007 e-mail from FARC operative “C茅sar” to Ra煤l Reyes indicates C贸rdoba advised the guerillas to keep Betancourt hostage. Colombian President 脕lvaro Uribe had by then terminated the mediation efforts by C贸rdoba and Ch谩vez. Among the statements in the e-mail that “Cesar” attributes to C贸rdoba:

* That Ingrid is thin, but that she鈥檚 always been thin and it won鈥檛 kill her.
* That she believes someone needs to be released and given to Ch谩vez on the border and that it shouldn鈥檛 be Ingrid. They don鈥檛 give a fuck about the rest anymore.
* That she had a fierce discussion with Yolanda Pulecio (Betancourt鈥檚 mother) about the show she put up for her daughter.

C贸rdoba denies making the statements. (Colombia Reports, June 8)

See our last posts on Colombia parapol铆tica and farcpol铆tica scandals.

  1. Piedad Cordoba is a Terrorist Suporter
    She is working along with Chavez to dominate the area. They support the Terrorist FARC in order to use them to get rid of the Democratic Goverment of President Uribe. She is not looking to liberate the kidnapped people. She wants to “exchange them” for the Guerrillas in prison. If her goal were the liberation of she should claim for a unilateral release. Everybody knows that she has had contacts with the terrorist for years and deals with the commerce of humans for profit.

  2. Piedad Cordoba = terrorist
    Piedad Cordoba is a friend of the drug and terrorist organizations in Colombia. She is taking advantage of her political power as a senator to “mediate” between the reveals and the goverment to recover the freedom of some of the politicians kidnapped in Colombia by her terrorist friends. The truth is that in Colombia there are thousands of soldiers kidnapped by these groups, however, for this “senator” these pocesses of freedom recovery are just smoke curtains to get attention and get more power to these guerillas. She is part of Hugo Chavez’s team (Venezuelan President), who utilizes socialism as his moto to establish a corrupted and criminal goverment.

    Piedad is just another white collar delincuent. She should be in jail. For ever!