Word: calied
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...year has passed since president Ernesto Samper Pizano of Colombia was first accused of taking millions of dollars for his 1994 presidential campaign from the cocaine-rich Rodriguez brothers of Cali--time enough for him to emerge as a strong and conscientious leader. A poll two weeks ago by Semana magazine gave Samper a 63% approval rating. Last week, however, all that trust came unraveled. Explosive allegations by a former close aide implicated Samper more forcefully than ever, and brought the survival of his presidency into doubt...
...first victim of last week's political storm was Defense Minister Fernando Botero Zea, 39, who resigned amid accusations that he had received almost $6 million in contributions from the Cali cartel when he was Samper's campaign manager. Botero's accuser was Santiago Medina, campaign treasurer, who was arrested two weeks ago after a police raid turned up a check made out to him by a cartel front company...
...irony of last week's sensational disclosures was that in recent months Botero, who was in charge of both the military and the national police, had been decimating the Cali cartel's formidable drug hierarchy. Behind bars after 15 years of activity were billionaire Cali kingpins Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and Jose Santacruz Londono. Botero's national police director, General Jose Rosso Serrano, is said to be on the trail of the two remaining major Cali mobsters, Rodriguez's younger brother Miguel and Helmer "Pacho" Herrera...
...ranking U.S. policy hand. "He's been very helpful." Other U.S. agents, however, bolstered Medina's story when they found two Chase Manhattan Bank accounts in New York that appeared to be linked to Samper's inner circle. Medina says that a Chase account was used to launder the Cali funds...
...free of corruption and human-rights violations. Despite patriotic grumbling within his government, Botero agreed, and the result has pleased him. The agency drew closer to the Colombian National Police, one of the government's cleaner outfits, and the teamwork proved essential in the recent capture of Cali druglords...