Álvaro Córdoba has already been extradited to the United States on a DEA plane. He said goodbye to his sister, spoke of treason, and went against President Gustavo Petro. Here is the minute by minute

At nine in the morning this Thursday, Álvaro Córdoba Ruiz, the brother of Piedad Córdoba, was formally extradited to the United States. This puts an end to one of the most critical episodes for President Gustavo Petro, who finally decided to agree to send the relative of one of his squires in the Historical Pact to the United States.

The day passed calmly. SEMANA was in Catam from the early hours of the morning and monitored this process minute by minute. In the midst of this hustle and bustle, a video recorded from her cell in the La Picota prison in Bogotá was released, in which cordoba ruiz he appreciated the support of his relatives throughout this extradition process, and defined himself as the victim of an entrapment by the judicial authorities.

“I send a message to my mother, an elderly lady, 90 years old, my lady who is going through a serious illness, a super-aggressive cancer that has brought her to the brink of death several times; to my brothers, simply tell them that I love them dearly, with my soul, I appreciate the accompaniment in this very difficult process that I have had to go through ”, she assured, in a statement to the media and to the HSB Noticias portal.

In the short message, Córdoba -who was extradited this Thursday to the United States- He thanked his mother, his wife and brothers for the accompaniment “in these hard times”. In this recording he made a special mention of her sister Piedad,

“To my sister Piedad Córdoba, senator-elect of the Historical Pact, and who has had to suffer the betrayal of her supposed benchmates, who only because of power struggles and ambitions have forgotten the struggles of the left.”

In the early hours of Thursday, at four o’clock in the morning, Inpec officials, in the company of Interpol agents and the Police Dijín, notified him in his cell in the extraditable pavilion of La Picota prison, in Bogotá about the start of the procedure.

At 4:20 in the morning, under a strict operation, he left La Picota prison, located in the south of Bogotá, heading to the military airport of Catam, in the west of the capital of the Republic. In that place was the DEA plane ready to transfer him, along with five other extraditables, to the United States.

Through resolution 000236 of January 18, 2023, the extradition process to the United States of Jesús Restrepo Saldarriaga, Julián Alberto Lemus Castro, Frank Hernán Álvarez Espinal, José Alfredo Aguas Oviedo and Mauricio José García Quimbayo was also ordered.

The extradition of Álvaro Córdoba occurs after obtaining the permission of the Supreme Court of Justice and the signature of President Gustavo Petro, from whom they hoped that he would stop the extradition under the protection of the statement he gave, according to which he would evaluate the extraditions if Those who are requested still have information to provide to the authorities in Colombia.

The extradition of Álvaro Córdoba occurs after obtaining the permission of the Supreme Court of Justice and the signature of President Gustavo Petro, from whom they hoped that he would stop the extradition under the protection of the statement he gave, according to which he would evaluate the extraditions if Those who are requested still have information to provide to the authorities in Colombia.

It should be remembered that Córdoba Ruiz was captured on February 4 in the middle of the road in the El Poblado neighborhood, in Medellín, because it was required by the United States District Court, for the Southern District of New York, for crimes related to illicit drug trade. Along with Córdoba, a woman identified as Libia Amada Palacio Mera was arrested, who is also wanted by the authorities of this country.

“In order to execute the handover of persons to officials of the Government of the United States of America, in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it requests to coordinate what is necessary with the Criminal Investigation Directorate and Interpol for the execution of delivery in extradition ”, reads in another part of the document dated January 18, 2023.

The file is revealing. For example, the testimony of the agent appears Mathew S. Passmore, who detailed how the congresswoman’s brother operated by providing services for criminal organizations.

The court document that the DEA agent stated there was a meeting on or about December 17, 2021, in response to a security question.

His testimony indicates that Córdoba Ruiz “declared that, in the Farc camp, where a commander was, there were at least 300 men armed to the teeth, even with weapons to shoot down objects (an apparent reference to surface-to-air missiles).”

What does the defense say?

WEEK cHe consulted the defense of Álvaro Córdoba, who explained that, for now, nothing else is planned other than for the brother of Senator Piedad Córdoba to insist that there is no evidence, as he had said in a video also revealed by this medium, in which he appears on an exercise bike hoping that he was not going to be sent to a cold cell in North America.

The explanations that Córdoba will have to the North American justice have to be clear. According to the evidences, Córdoba Ruiz was in charge of getting the drugs with the despondent head of the Farc dissidents in southern Colombia, Miguel Botache Santillana, alias Gentil Duarte., with whom he had established contacts for more than a year. He would have attended meetings to negotiate deals in Bogotá and Medellín.

Once the purchase of cocaine through Córdoba was completed, the FARC dissidents promised to take the merchandise to the Pacific, in three key points: Tumaco (Nariño), Cauca and Buenaventura (Valle). It was not easy for the authorities to find this link because he handled a profile different from the usual drug traffickers, who are used to being surrounded by luxuries. On the contrary, Córdoba went unnoticed and preferred to make contacts in discreet places and in person. For obvious reasons, he avoided talking about these issues over the phone and only did so to set up a few meetings.

But that is not all. Córdoba was part of a whole network that negotiated and trafficked drugs and weapons with tentacles in countries like Venezuela, Mexico and the United States, with the support of Gentil Duarte, former commander of the Farc dissidents, who died in Venezuela.

A few days ago, Álvaro Córdoba broke the silence and, prior to being sent to a maximum security prison in the United States, spoke about his legal case; He threw several darts at President Gustavo Petro and hinted at his despair in the face of the acute legal process against him.

“President Petro passes over the reasons of political and legal expediency. The facts of which I am accused are under investigation and they happened in Colombia, which implies that judicial sovereignty prevents the extradition of a compatriot in these cases,” he said, in dialogue with Blue Radio.

And he added in the interview with the radio medium: “Too bad that President Petro he ignored all this, he had no consideration, all the observations that were made about the anomalies in my case were ignored by the president.”

At that moment, Córdoba also mentioned the visit made by Juan Fernando Petro, brother of President Gustavo Petro, to former congressman Iván Moreno, brother of former Bogotá mayor Samuel Moreno, in which he was promising a “social pardon” or a profound modification to justice through a reform.

“He sent a message to President Petro not to forget a large number of people who are being held in La Picota, in the extradition yards. They were waiting for the government, actually headed by Dr. Gustavo Petro, as it did in the campaign, to really review the extradition cases that exist today and that a great majority are cases of entrapment“, I note.

And he went further by warning that he is innocent of the case for which he is being investigated and the extradition process to the United States is advancing: “I am innocent of the charges against me, the evidence delivered to the United States is illegal. I have never trafficked weapons or drugs, I have not belonged to any insurgent group, like my family, we have not lived off drug trafficking because we are not drug traffickers”. According to him, the law is applied to their accommodation and they use it to selectively persecute political enemies.

President Petro’s decision

Last November, high-level sources from the Casa de Nariño confirmed to WEEK that the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, signed the extradition to the United States of Álvaro Córdoba, brother of Senator Piedad Córdoba, a determination adopted by the Colombian president when resolving an appeal for reversal filed by the defense of Córdoba.

“To confirm Executive Resolution No. 196 of September 7, 2022, through which the United States of America was granted, the extradition of the Colombian citizen Álvaro Córdoba, in accordance with what is stated in the motivational part of this resolution”, emerges from one of the sections of the resolution signed by President Petro.

And the document also indicated that, “it was complied with in full observance and observance of due process, which has the prior and favorable opinion of the Supreme Court of Justice and that with this appeal no new elements of judgment were provided that lead, to Vary the initial decision, the national Government, by virtue of the power that assists it, will confirm in all its parts Executive Resolution No. 196 of September 7, 2022″.