Colombian President Faces Charges
Public prosecutor Alfonso Valdivieso presented Congress with charges Wednesday that could lead to impeachment proceedings against President Ernesto Samper for allegedly accepting drug money for his 1994 campaign.
The prosecutor issued a formal denunciation of the president, charging Samper with illicit enrichment, electoral fraud, falsifying documents and complicity.
It was the first time charges have been formally recommended against Samper, who has been dogged since his August 1994 election by accusations he took $6 million in campaign contributions from the world’s most powerful drug syndicate, the Cali cocaine cartel.
The denunciation sets in motion a process that could take months to play out before Samper’s fate is decided.
Meanwhile, Colombia’s Supreme Court ordered the arrest Wednesday of ruling party Sen. Gustavo Espinosa Jaramillo of southwest Valle del Cauca province, headquarters of the Cali drug mob, on drug corruption charges.
Officials said the senator--who turned himself in hours after the court order--is the fourth lawmaker whose arrest has been ordered by the court since late last year on drug-related charges of illicit enrichment.
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