Word: samper
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...MONTHS SINCE HE BECAME President, Ernesto Samper Pizano has dodged bullet after political bullet, each carrying accusations that his 1994 election campaign received millions of dollars in contributions from the Cali cocaine cartel. He has responded that if drug funds were accepted, it was without his knowledge. But last week the President's evasions were firmly contradicted: a former close associate charged that Samper was indeed aware of the cartel connection. Though many Colombians all along have believed that the Samper campaign had a Cali taint, the latest allegation stunned the country. As calls for the President's resignation mounted...
Fernando Botero Zea, who was Samper's right-hand man, 1994 campaign manager and Defense Minister, made his charges from Bogota's Cavalry School barracks, where he has been detained for more than five months. Two hours after the Botero revelation, Samper fired back in a televised address. "The truth," he declared, "is that Botero is lying to save himself." Botero may in fact have decided to talk because he sensed the President was cutting him loose...
Last August, in an apparent effort to shield Samper, Botero resigned as Defense Minister after being implicated in the soliciting of campaign funds from the Cali kingpins; two weeks later, he found himself in detention, under investigation by the Prosecutor General's office. Though Samper repeatedly declared his belief in Botero's innocence, Botero came to suspect that the President was planning to make him the scapegoat in the scandal. He reached the breaking point on Jan. 21, when Samper failed to appear for a scheduled dinner at the barracks, sending in his place Interior Minister Horacio Serpa. Botero became...
...crisis deepened, Colombians found themselves debating a Samper resignation versus the President's own complex plan for a referendum on his rule and a reopened congressional investigation into his conduct. Samper rejects resignation as "an act of cowardice." In an interview with TIME last week, in which he repeated his denials, the President appeared astonishingly confident and almost cheerful. "What is ultimately important," he said, "is not what people think, but my conscience." As the days went by, however, his strategy for staying the course came under growing pressure. Three of his 15 ministers resigned, as did five ambassadors...
...arrest of Gilberto Mora Mesa, the Cali cartel's alleged communications chief, allegedly establishes that the cocaine organization was spying on both the Colombian government and United States drug agents. But while Colombian authorities, namely embattled President Ernesto Samper, are blaming the cartel for the tapping, American officials believe blame lies elsewhere. "The American embassy is absolutely livid about this. They think the Colombian government is behind the taps," reports TIME's Elaine Shannon. "Pointing the finger at the cartel is seen as a desperate attempt by Samper to save his administration. He's terrified that the cartel's bookkeeper...