Colombian Veep apologizes to Senate

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Colombia’s Vice President, Francisco Santos, issued a major skid-back on his comments earlier this week that ’30 or 40’ members of Congress would wind up in jail when investigators reach the bottom of a scandal involving the solons’ alleged links to paramilitaries.

Colombia’s El Pais website carried the full letter to the Senate, in which Santos said he was sorry if the comments, made to the RCN TV network, ‘interfered’ with the work of Congress, which he said would ‘emerge stronger’ after the investigation concludes.

So far, 17 members of Congress are under investigation for alleged ties to the right-wing paramilitaries, which have been blamed for numerous human-rights abuses in Colombia.

Santos also had told RCN that Congress should not approve a free-trade agreement with the United States. The President, Alvaro Uribe, went to Washington recently to promote passage of the agreement in the U.S. Congress, and was not pleased about either of the veep’s comments. Some of those under investigation in the ‘parapolitics’ scandal are close Uribe allies.

Posted by Geoffrey Mohan in Los Angeles