In an interview for the Colombian newspaper timethree unnamed officials from President Joe Biden’s administration alleged that the United States sponsored the Colombian government’s purchase of the Pegasus spyware program in mid-2021.
Pegasus – along with its Israeli parent company NSO Group – was blacklisted in the US by the Biden administration in November 2021, after it determined that the spyware acted “contrary to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States”. . US Federal Register. The software is said to have been used to spy on journalists, opposition politicians and activists in countries such as Mexico, Europe and Asia.
In early September 2024, current Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for an investigation into the alleged use of Pegasus by the previous administration of Iván Duque.
Image source: Gustavo Petro via X.
Read more: Colombia will investigate the alleged use of Pegasus spyware by the Iván Duque government
Investigators have since established that two planes from Israel landed on Colombian territory — first in June and then in September 2021 — and that an $11 million financial transaction took place between the two governments, according to time.
“I have the legal right to declassify classified information if the human rights of Colombians are being jeopardized. Pegasus software was brought in to spy on youth leadership movements and opposition communications for more than six months,” President Petro said through X.
Former President Duque also issued a response to the allegations, in which he stated that he has given clear instructions so that all government officials during his administration comply with the law and that the alleged purchase of spyware was not recorded by Ministry of Defense or police intelligence.
“The Office of the President never ordered the purchase of the ‘Pegasus’ software on behalf of the Colombian state. Former President Duque did not participate in any process of purchasing the goods,” Duque said in X.
Daniel García-Peña, Colombia’s current ambassador to the United States, attended a meeting with several senior security officials from the Biden administration on November 8 to address the issue.
“It is completely suspicious and irregular that those payments were made in cash, allegedly to avoid the traceability of sources. Herein lie the questions we continue to ask; the officials gave us some answers, but we still have a lot of doubts and are surprised because usually, if a situation like this were legitimate and everything was directed towards the fight against drug trafficking, making payments in cash would it was very irregular”, the ambassador said in the minutes. after the meeting ended, standing outside the White House.
US officials also stressed that the Pegasus spyware was never directly handed over to Colombian authorities. Instead, Colombian intelligence units would inform their American counterparts who they considered potential targets for wiretapping, the ambassador told the press.
More than a month after President Petro first spoke about the situation, NSO Group responded to the news In FM contacted them for comment on October 23.
“NSO is a law abiding company. As such, all transactions are done according to law and with proper authorization and documentation in both countries. Any other claims are inaccurate and do not reflect reality,” said the company’s vice president of communications, Gil Lainer. In FM.
While the investigation is ongoing, some question whether US officials are telling the truth and how neither Duque nor Petro were informed of such an operation.
“Does the US now pay in cash? How did the US ‘gift’ Colombia a spyware without any senior officials knowing about it? This is not an official communication with the US government and we must seek confirmation directly from the White House,” said Senator Antonio Correa, a member of the center-right United People’s Party.
As signaled by Ambassador García-Peña, he requested that information obtained through Pegasus be handed over to Colombian authorities to ensure that the spyware was used for the purposes claimed by US officials. US authorities committed to forwarding this request, but did not specify when, where or if they would ever release the information.
“We were very emphatic that we need to know everything, and that both the Colombians and the US authorities have a right to the information that is compiled by this software,” the ambassador said.
Colombia has a long history of spying on its own citizens. In 2009, the government of Duque’s political protégé, former president Álvaro Uribe Velez, was embroiled in a wiretapping scandal that ensnared judges, journalists and members of the opposition. In 2014, it was revealed that Colombia’s military hired a hacker to spy on negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and in 2020, the press reported that the military again used Israeli spying tools—allegedly loaned to the military by the US—to spied on judges, politicians, military officers and reporters, including then New York Times Andes Bureau Chief Nicholas Casey.
