Colombia

Luis Fernando Andrade: The Case That the Attorney General’s Office Closed Three Times but the Criminal Justice System Has Not Closed Even Once—What’s Missing and What to Watch For

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Luis Fernando Andrade was arrested at his home in late 2017. Nine years later, no criminal judge has ruled on whether he is guilty or innocent. Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office has removed him from office and barred him from holding public office three times—in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The former president of the National … Read more about Luis Fernando Andrade: The Case That the Attorney General’s Office Closed Three Times but the Criminal Justice System Has Not Closed Even Once—What’s Missing and What to Watch For

Roberto Prieto: The Live Confession That Went Unpunished, the Witness Who Put Him on the Map, and the Indictment That Will Send Him Back to the Dock in 2026

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Roberto Prieto is the only person featured in this series who confessed to a crime in a radio interview and was not punished for it. On March 14, 2017, the former manager of Juan Manuel Santos’s reelection campaign admitted on Blu Radio that Odebrecht had paid for the 2010 campaign posters. The National Electoral Council … Read more about Roberto Prieto: The Live Confession That Went Unpunished, the Witness Who Put Him on the Map, and the Indictment That Will Send Him Back to the Dock in 2026

Ñoño Elías: The senator who was implicated by Otto Bula, who pleaded guilty three times and ultimately testified against the president of the ANI

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Bernardo Miguel Elías Vidal, known as “Ñoño,” has been on both sides of the dock in this series. First, he was the one implicated. In 2017, intermediary Otto Bula identified him as the senator who secured the addition of the Ocaña-Gamarra section for Odebrecht. Later, he became a witness. In May 2021, he testified in … Read more about Ñoño Elías: The senator who was implicated by Otto Bula, who pleaded guilty three times and ultimately testified against the president of the ANI

Otto Bula: The Witness Who Pinned the Odebrecht Case in Colombia, Whom He Named, What Convictions His Testimony Led To, and What Price He Paid for Cooperating

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Otto Bula is the most productive witness in this entire series. No other informant from the region has seen his testimony lead to so many final convictions. Arrested in January 2017, the former Liberal senator went from being an Odebrecht intermediary to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office’s primary source in just a few weeks. His … Read more about Otto Bula: The Witness Who Pinned the Odebrecht Case in Colombia, Whom He Named, What Convictions His Testimony Led To, and What Price He Paid for Cooperating