Exclusivo: Habla Iván Cepeda sobre declaración del Clan del Golfo en su contra

0:00 They apply terms and conditions. The WU report, Colonel. A scoop from the colonel report. Senator Iván Cepeda has information about the alleged intention of a paramilitary narco- leader to point him out as the perpetrator of illegal activities. The scoop is on the report, Colonel. We' re not talking about anyone who' s looking for a principle of opportunity. We' re talking about the head of one of Colombia' s most feared criminal organizations. But I' d better start the report, Colonel Daniel Good Morning July. This is the Colonel report. On Friday, the Attorney General of the Nation light Adriana Camargo, received a right of petition from Senator Ivan Cepeda, who tells her that she has had information about the intention of a leader named Gulf Clan to negotiate with the prosecution a principle of opportunity. And here comes the most interesting. Senator Cepeda says that principle of opportunity would be demanded by that head of the Gulf clan. In exchange for auro quotes deliver information to implicate me falsely in illegal actions. The report learned that the leader of the Gulf clander, who is supposed to advance efforts to try a principle of opportunity is Giovannis de JesúsÁvila Villa Diego, best known for his alias Chiquito Malo. No

1:34 one in the prosecution confirms the existence of Chiquito Malo' s rapprochements. A few minutes ago, lawyer Ricardo Giraldo, who has served as a proxy for the so- called self- defense activists. As he likes the Gulf clan to be told, he assured me that Chiquito Malo is not looking for a princely opportunity. However, other lawyers claim that there is tension among members of the Gulf clan and that this would have motivated their boss, Chiquito Malo, to explore an individual alternative of submission. But what does Senator Ivan have to do with all this? But, well, this starts years ago. In the two thousand and fifteen, the Gulf clan, known at that time simply as the Hurabians, controlled about thirty percent of the drug trafficking operation in Colombia.

2:30 The Government of President Juan Manuel Santos attempted to demobilize the powerful criminal structure at that time, commanded by Dairo Antonio Usuga Alias Otoniel and authorized Senator Ivan Cepeda to make rapprochement with that criminal organization. Things didn' t work out at the time. For the time being, the Uruguayans wanted political treatment and that was unpresentable to Colombia and the international community. As euphemistically we call the Gobio of America. The Santos government proposed a collective submission and they wanted not to talk about submission, but about placement. And to conclude, the Attorney General of the time, Néstor Humberto Martínez, was convinced that any negotiation with those groups of drug traffickers distorted the raison d'être of the rule of law. The thing was damaged, Otoniel. He was later captured in the government of President Iván Duque, under circumstances that continue to raise questions and controversy.

3:34 He was then extradited when he began to speak of his allies and handed over a list of military politicians and even universities with which he had an alliance. That list was revealed here in the report after Otoniel' s extradition. The power of the ancient Hurabians remained in the hands of Wilmer, Giraldo, Alias Yopa and Chiquito Mano, but a year ago, Ciopas was murdered to do and his body found on a road of the Tioki babe. The command was held by Chiquito Malo, who apparently is the person who wants to deliver information against Ivan Zepeda, whom we greet at this hour. Good morning, Senator, good morning, Daniel, I' d like to greet you as always. Well, Senator, tell me, what do you know about this alleged principle of opportunity from Chiquito Malo? Well, a few days ago I had information from a source that I consider to be credible, and that information was in the sense of what you have outlined. A leader of the Gulf clan or a chief would be seeking a principle of opportunity, judicial benefits in the prosecution and would have made an offer of information that would include pointing out in actions that are openly illegal. The information was brief. We don'

5:08 t go into much detail, but under these circumstances, I always tend to proceed in an immediate way, that is, at the very moment I learned about this information, I made it public through my account in x and I have formally requested the prosecution. I am informed whether it is true or not that there is a good one in progress if there may be a kind of submission of this nature in progress, because if so, then this submission would be doing in exchange for false information. And for that I am willing to respond, as I have always done before justice. Attorney Ricardo Giraldo, who has officiated as representing so much legal of the so- called gypsy self- defenses, told me a few minutes ago that he does not know and that he denies any principle of opportunity in which he is small hand. The truth is that, nine years ago, in the government of President Santos, you tried a rapprochement with the Uruguayans who now call themselves self- defense guitarists, what was the nature of your relationship with that group. Well, that was a process of rapprochement that was done with the express authorization of the President of the Republic, who at that time was Juan Manuel Santos, and with the

6:39 participation of the Attorney General of the Nation. At first Dr Jorge Perdomo was there and then Dr Néstor Humberto Martínez and later directly intervened who was Vice President of the Republic, General Oscar Narán, for this type of action, since there was never direct contact with the leaders of the Gulf clan, but through representatives who were duly accredited to the national Government and the Prosecutor' s Office. And well, there was progress, as you said, and there was really a certain possibility that these people, at least a part of that group, would demobilize, but there was also very strong interference. I have to say it. For that to be achieved, a law was voted in the Congress of the Republic, which we very seriously criticized because it did not really offer any serious possibility of making this submission viable. And that contributed, among other factors, to the possibility of this demobilization being overturned. Senator you tell us there was no contact with the bosses at that time, but now, let' s just say the person who would supposedly be looking for that principle of opportunity is alle chiquito malo. You met him back then. I have

8:11 never had any direct or indirect contact with that gentleman. At that time, who was the head of the organization was Naralia Sotoniel, and this man later appeared on the real scene. So when we made those facilitation efforts. He did not even appear as one of the main ones, as heads of the organization. It was after that approach. This isn' t the first time you' ve been plowing, but there' s an attempt to link you to illegal activities. But this coincides with the beginning of the trial of Mr President al Barurib. You believe that there may be a network connection between the two facts. No, I haven' t made this kind of relationship or I don' t have any elements to indicate it. But in the face of this kind of smear campaigns, because I proceed in a standardized way, that is, when I find out about them, I immediately bring the authorities to the attention, because of course one already knows what is going on with this, and it is that this matter or this kind of business ends up in which there may eventually be some pronouncement of justice and then, years later,

9:43 it is shown that they were false. And then, obviously, irreparable damage has already been done to the honour and name of the people. That ' s why I, in this case, act preventively. I did so several times during the administration of Dr Néstor Humberto Martínez, who, among other things, at some point tried to throw into public opinion some kind of assertions that I considered totally inadequate and that is why I immediately asked him very clear questions through hateful rights. And on this occasion, because I have no evidence whatsoever that the prosecution is proceeding against me, but in this case it is very convenient and necessary to have clarity. Senator, you' re answering this call from Caracas, where another round of conversations with ellene takes place. Allow me to change from this moment. Many Colombians feel that this process has lost credibility months ago and that it reached its peak with the recent announcement by its top commander, Antonio García, that the LN will resume kidnappings until when the government will continue in Udo in this initiative that honestly does not seem to go anywhere. No. I wouldn' t say that, Daniel, we' ve had a year and maybe nine months of dialogue with the LN, and

11:18 in this period there' s been a blind fire that' s lasted for well, it' s going to last about a year or a year. Next August three would be a year. At that time, the ln has suspended some of the actions, especially against the security forces, that have generated at other times a very serious damage, since to families, to people who are in the institution of the security forces or in the institutions of the security forces, and that must be valued positively. ELNE suspended the kidnapping for a few months. He has announced that he is going to resume that practice.

12:01 We, of course, have demanded that you resume your commitment. But that is the way peace negotiations are, that is, they are subject to a series of crises, problems and difficult situations, but we must persevere in them. We are now at this meeting where we hope that on 25 May, for the first time, an agreement can be reached on an agenda item with the NL In this case there are six points. That would mean that we would already be finishing the first item on the agenda. Of course it will go away is little in relation to the time that has passed, but we have also made progress in other areas, as I have already said, Senator.

12:52 Finally, I want to ask you a question. For years, you and other members of the left are working to get a member of the left to reach the Colombian presidency with a left government. It was this thing that ' s happening. What you imagined, because what I always assumed and in that I have not been wrong, is that it was going to be very difficult and that it was going to be full of difficulties, problems, errors and also important successes, and I believe that this conviction I still have in a country like Colombia, which has so many problems. The beginning of a Government that wants to make a change is marked by such obstacles and problems.

13:52 I believe that there are issues on which the Government has been right, there are reforms that are indiscreet in which it has made progress, and also, of course, mistakes have been made and there are things that need to be improved. There is certainly something very important about the implementation of public policy, namely respect for the institutional framework and the rules. However, there are statements by the President of the Republic, especially in the public square that cause concern for many Colombians. I' m going to read you a textual Auro Comillas says President Petro. I' ll go as far as the village says.

14:35 If the people say later, later, I read without fear, without fear, we will go where the Colombian people order. The President of the Republic has only one commander at the head, and that commander is called the people of Colombia. I' m closing Comillas. How do you interpret this statement by President Petro? Well, in the spirit of the Constitution, the people really belong to the sovereign. But beyond the interpretations are the facts. President Petro has respected the constitutional, legal order, the division of public powers and in all his actions as President of the Republic, he has adhered to its principles, his actions can be criticized, his views may be disagreed with.

15:33 But, of course, there is a respect here for the institutions and for the Constitution. And I' m going to set an example. A few days ago I heard a speech on rural reform and the President said that one hectare of land had been expropriated. The forecast at the beginning of the government is that this was going to be more or less like the end of private ownership in Colombia and, on the contrary, what has been done is not only to respect it, but to try to buy it land, because guilds like fede Gan, who have obviously entered into this dynamic with the government.

16:18 So I believe that fears and speculations do not say they have anything to do with your question, but that they are thrown many times in the speech, in the public debate, because they are really unjustified. You believe that the President is going to try to stay beyond the seven of August of two thousand twenty- six, not give himself. I do not believe He has been in that repeatedly and supremely clear. It will neither aspire nor promote re- election. Well, you' ve raised a lonely voice from the left.

16:59 He says that the initiative of the constituent of President Gustavo Petro is inconvenient. He has answered you, said something in front of your remarks. No. I believe that the President has been very clear and in that we say my call was at the very moment when I did it to accentuate the path. From the beginning, he has called for a national agreement. I believe that is the essential factor in political life. Or that it can make a difference in political life today, because any initiative that is undertaken and that has a real purpose for change in our society must have at the base an agreement of the main economic, political and social forces. And that includes, then, the elite sectors, the sectors that have had, or have had, power, but also, of course, the citizens, the popular sectors. So it' s in that direction that there' s a thousand calls and no, I think there' s a lot of voices that support that idea.

18:18 I hope that it will come to fruition as soon as possible, because thank you very much to Senator Iván Cepeda for this frank conversation and for these for responding to these concerns that exist in the country. He speaks from Caracas, where another cycle of eternal conversations with the National Liberation Army is advanced. This was the Colonel report. Thank you very much, thank you very much, Senators. This was today' s Colonel report. Thank you very much, thank you very much,