Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Colombian senator says cocaine dealers in congress
Yahoo | Reuters ^ | 8/25/05

Posted on 08/25/2005 10:12:11 AM PDT by LibWhacker

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian congressmen are not only using cocaine but buying it in the Congress building, a senior Colombian senator said on Wednesday.

"I know names of people who distribute cocaine here in Congress," Sen. Edgar Artunduaga told local RCN television.

"There are important officials who distribute and senators and representatives who consume," said Artunduaga, who is deputy speaker of the Senate.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine but the government has received more than $3 billion in mainly military U.S. aid since 2000 to stamp out the drug trade so Artunduaga's remarks are likely to set off a storm.

Asked whether he would name names, the senator said: "I'm thinking about doing that, with the concern that a number of members of Congress will have to testify to the authorities."

Although selling cocaine is illegal in Colombia, possession of small doses for personal use is not. But with the government's efforts to stamp out the drug, which generates the money to buy bullets for Marxist rebels and far-right paramilitaries, any politician caught using it would be engulfed in scandal.

As in many U.S. and European cities, cocaine is easy to find here and its use common. But it is much cheaper in Colombia.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cocaine; colombia; colombian; congress; dealers; senator
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

1 posted on 08/25/2005 10:12:13 AM PDT by LibWhacker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

That's nothing, we had one as President (maybe two).


2 posted on 08/25/2005 10:12:52 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Hey Senator! Leave those kids alone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
When I saw the headline, I thought he was going to out some U.S senators. That'd explain some of their votes.
3 posted on 08/25/2005 10:13:47 AM PDT by Mike Bates (Irish Alzheimer's victim: I only remember the grudges.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator

Who's the second? I hope this senator has a very good bodyguard.


4 posted on 08/25/2005 10:13:53 AM PDT by twigs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
For a minute I thought he was talking about our Congress.

Now that I think about it, maybe his is.

5 posted on 08/25/2005 10:13:59 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: twigs
Clinton and Bush both used it.

Anyone whose ever worked in DC knows its everywhere. Interns and staff mostly. Lobbyists, lawyers, etc...

6 posted on 08/25/2005 10:16:22 AM PDT by conserv13
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
Colombian senator says cocaine dealers in congress

Master of the obvious.

7 posted on 08/25/2005 10:17:12 AM PDT by zarf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: conserv13

When can you say a country cannot govern itself and therefore represents a threat to other societies.....10, 20, 40 years? What? We may need an Operation Mop and Glow down there once we've dispatched the radical A-rabs.


8 posted on 08/25/2005 10:18:14 AM PDT by samadams2000 (Pitchforks and Lanterns..with a smiley face!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

If he names names, he'll be a dead man talking.


9 posted on 08/25/2005 10:18:31 AM PDT by Roccus (I've been described as a cynical romantic. Also a romantic cynic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mike Bates
Same here. There are some in the U.S. congress who at least talk like they're on some kind of drugs.
10 posted on 08/25/2005 10:18:44 AM PDT by MizSterious (Now, if only we could convince them all to put on their bomb-vests and meet in Mecca...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: conserv13

But Bush's days were far over by the time he became president.


11 posted on 08/25/2005 10:18:54 AM PDT by twigs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: thoughtomator

You beat me to it.


12 posted on 08/25/2005 10:20:14 AM PDT by GatĂșn(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

I do not know about dealing, but frequent and heavy useage by many in congress could explain some the legisaltion of the past 10 or so years.

To put it bluntly, that crack just don't smoke itself.


13 posted on 08/25/2005 10:20:23 AM PDT by TXBSAFH (Free Traitors are communist China's modern day "Useful Idiots")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: conserv13
Clinton and Bush both used it. Not as President Bush. You need alittle clarification with the accusation.
14 posted on 08/25/2005 10:21:16 AM PDT by madison10
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mike Bates

When I saw the headline, I thought he was going to out some U.S senators. That'd explain some of their votes.

SAME THOUGHTS!


15 posted on 08/25/2005 10:21:46 AM PDT by newcthem (Legal voters? We don't need no stinkin legal voters.....This is the Peoples Republic of Wisconsin.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
"I know names of people who distribute cocaine here in Congress,"

Suicide attempt!

16 posted on 08/25/2005 10:21:54 AM PDT by MarineBrat (We are taxed twice as much by our idleness. -- Benjamin Franklin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker
with the concern that a number of members of Congress will have to testify to the authorities." Hmm... Things are different down in Columbia. Up here, our Congressmen answer to no authority.
17 posted on 08/25/2005 10:22:59 AM PDT by BostonianRightist (Well, boys, I reckon this is it - nuclear combat toe to toe with the Roosskies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: newcthem; MizSterious; mewzilla

You know what they say about great minds.


18 posted on 08/25/2005 10:23:24 AM PDT by Mike Bates (Irish Alzheimer's victim: I only remember the grudges.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: madison10

I didn't say 'President'. I just said they'd both used it.


19 posted on 08/25/2005 10:24:16 AM PDT by conserv13
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

We have Kool-Aid dealers in our Congress.


20 posted on 08/25/2005 10:28:47 AM PDT by DTogo (U.S. out of the U.N. & U.N out of the U.S.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson