Florida Republican lawmakers are denouncing the prosecution of Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe on corruption charges.
President Uribe is charged with bribery and witness tampering in the first prosecution of a former president in Colombia’s history.
Uribe’s prosecution has been promoted by Socialist President Gustavo Petro, whose sped up prosecutorial processes.
Republicans, who have frequently been critical of President Petro, criticized Uribe’s prosecution as a “witch hunt” with no sound legal basis.
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) came to Uribe’s defense and undermined Petro’s administration, calling Uribe’s prosecution as the “politicized use of the courts.”
“Today's Colombia is very different from the one that prospered under the leadership of the former president Alvaro Uribe,” said Representative Balart. “The ongoing show trial, political persecution and witch hunt against Uribe reflect the advance of far-left forces that control Gustavo Petro.”
On his end, Uribe wrote to State Department Secretary Marco Rubio to expose of USAID funding to Colombia was diverted to finance the political persecution against him.
“The magistrate César Reyes, the same one who built the case against Álvaro Uribe, and the wife of Iván Cepeda, Mrs. Pilar Rueda, were also consultants for USAID in Colombia,” explained Uribe to Secretary Rubio. “That is where the taxpayers’ money from your country went.”
Rubio has yet to respond.
President Donald Trump’s administration has closely scrutinized USAID funds in recent weeks as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seeks to uncover wasteful government spending.
If Uribe is right, his statements reveal USAID funding to Colombia may have been funneled into the pockets of progressive actors to finance their political goals.
“Petro and his allies must be clear that the United States and the partners of Colombian democracy are closely following the development of these unjust events,” warned Balart. “The politicized use of the courts as a tool of retaliation is dangerous, damaging and deeply anti-democratic. It is unacceptable.”
