MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US-Colombia controversy with “Chess Master”

Colombia and the United States government have been forced into a controversy regarding the conditions on which a notorious Colombian drug lord was extradited to Miami to face trial.

Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, head of the now-defunct Cali cartel and also known as the "Chess Master" for his brilliant strategist conditions, was extradited last Friday and appeared Monday in a federal courtroom in Miami. Colombian authorities expressed "displeasure" with a U.S. prosecutor's statement Monday that the drug lord could be prosecuted for crimes committed both before and after 1997, when Colombia re-established extradition after a six-year ban.

Signed by acting Foreign Minister Jaime Giron, Colombia complained to US Secretary of State Colin Powell emphasizing that Mr. Rodriguez Orejuela had been turned over based on certain agreements. US Federal prosecutor Marcos Daniel Jimenez had been quoted as telling reporters Monday in Miami that Rodriguez Orejuela could be prosecuted for crimes committed before 1997.

However Mr. Jimenez's office issued a press release Tuesday saying that "neither Mr. Jimenez nor any one else stated or implied that the defendant Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela would be tried or face charges solely related to pre-1997 acts".

"United States will fully honour its commitments and obligations under the extradition orders issued by the Republic of Colombia in regard to Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela and all other defendants who are extradited from Colombia to the United States".

Mr. Jimenez on Monday had said that the US law allows for the prosecution of all acts, both those before and after 1997, but also underlined that the key crimes for the purpose of extradition had been those occurred after 1997. According to the Colombian Foreign Ministry the statements attributed to Mr. Jimenez violated the conditions established by Bogota when it authorized the extradition. "This deserves the special attention of U.S. authorities to ensure the strictest compliance" said Colombia in the official compliant highlighting the "surprise and profound concern" with press statements from the Miami federal prosecutor.

Mr. Giron also insisted that Rodriguez Orejuela could not be sentenced to death, because that punishment is illegal in Colombia, nor can he be "submitted to forced disappearance, torture, or cruel and unusual, inhuman or degrading punishment, exile, life in prison or the confiscation of belongings".

The 65-year-old Rodriguez Orejuela, who served eight years in prison in Colombia following his arrest in 1995, appeared for the first time Monday in a Miami court, dressed in a prison uniform. His arraignment is scheduled for December 27. Prosecutor Jimenez said he believed the Colombian would be sentenced "to 20 years for drug smuggling" in connection with the shipment of some 50 tons of cocaine to the United States.

Defense lawyer Jose Quiñon said at the end of Monday's hearing that it would be practically impossible for his client to get a fair trial in Miami.