President Gustavo Petro opens an investigation into the $11 million that was sent from his nation to Israel in order to buy spy software.
The attorney general’s office has been requested by President Gustavo Petro of Colombia to look into the $11 million purchase of Pegasus surveillance software. According to Petro, the software may have been used to spy on opposition lawmakers during the previous administration.
“How does $11 million in cash leave the country on a plane, or two, from state offices … to go to Israel to buy software that spies on cell phones, private communications, politics, perhaps for months?” Petro questioned on Wednesday in a broadcast, using records from the Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) that described the acquisition.
The president asked what legal basis there was for targeting him or other politicians.
In order for the public to feel satisfied that their rights are upheld by the government, Petro asked that the director of the UIAF and the chief of police provide the attorney general’s office with the pertinent records and software.
“We need to investigate this further,” Petro stated.
worldwide espionage
In the past ten years, it has been regularly discovered that spyware, notably Pegasus, has been used to compromise the phones of journalists, members of the political opposition, and members of civil society.
Particularly, Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO, was discovered on the phones of numerous individuals worldwide, including human rights advocates.
Numerous instances of politically motivated spyware exploitation have been reported by cybersecurity researchers, including in Mexico, Thailand, India, Poland, and other nations.
