The State Department responded this Wednesday to a controversy generated this Tuesday by some Colombian media by indicating that The United States has not evaluated or verified the investigation carried out by the Attorney General's Office for the alleged entry of illegal funds into the campaign of the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro..
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According to Patel, The inclusion of any data in that report “does not denote any factual finding or assessment by the United States Government with respect to these specific references.”.
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The official recalled that the report is a compilation of credible government and non-government sources, including the Prosecutor's Office.
Why did the controversy arise?
Verbatim, the report, in an aside to the chapter on Colombia, said the following: “The Attorney General's Office opened investigations against President Petro's son and brother for allegedly accepting irregular payments, some of which allegedly financed Petro's 2022 campaign.”
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Nicolas Petro
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At the press conference, the reporter asked Patel if he considered the accusations about the entry of illicit money into the presidential campaign credible.
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“What I can say is that the asides we included in the Human Rights report are credible. That's why they appear there,” Patel replied.
What I can say is that the asides we included in the Human Rights report are credible. That's why they go out there.
However, several media outlets decided to present it as confirmation that the United States endorsed and gave credence to the accusations of irregular financing in the presidential campaign.
“The United States considers the entry of irregular money into Petro's campaign credible”several titled.
In other words, it went from “it is credible that the Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation” (a concrete fact) to “the investigation carried out by the Prosecutor's Office into irregular entry of funds to Petro's campaign is credible.”
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President Gustavo Petro.
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“Patel, who does not know the situation in Colombia in detail and must also respond for the situation in more than 180 countries in the world, what he did was answer the question by directing attention to what was already said in the report. That the Prosecutor's Office “An investigation is underway, a public fact that has been news in the country,” a former United States diplomat with extensive experience in the country told him.
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Additionally, the sources state, Washington has a policy not to comment on judicial processes in other countries. And even more so when it is in its preliminary stages and involves a friendly nation.
Patel, who does not know the situation in Colombia in detail and must also answer for the situation in more than 180 countries in the world, what he did was answer the question by directing attention to what was already said in the report.
“Colombia rejects the expressions and assessments of Mr. Vedant Patel, which are far from the real content of what was presented in the report. Furthermore, his statements ignore and disrespect the attachment of Colombian institutions to the principle of due process and their commitment to the fight against corruption and impunity,” said the Colombian Foreign Ministry.
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The Government of Colombia has issued a diplomatic note of protest to the United States government over the statements of Vedant Patel, spokesperson for the State Department, regarding the Report on Human Rights Practices in 2023 and its section on Colombia.
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— Colombian Foreign Ministry (@CancilleriaCol) April 23, 2024
According to another source consulted, “at most this was a misunderstanding that could simply be clarified with a call to the State Department asking for clarification,” which eventually came out but when the government had already reacted.
In fact, the government Instead of qualifying the incident, he raised it even further by questioning the report as such – due to the mention made about the president's son and brother – and the United States for preparing unilateral reports.
“We have not made any statement about the investigations of President Joe Biden's son. If the United States respects our institutions, it should not do that,” Murillo said.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
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