-Caveat Lector-
Feb 26, 2001 - 07:53 PM
Outrage in Colombia Over Clinton's Commutation of Drug-Money
Launderer's Sentence
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombians were stupefied and outraged
Monday by former President Clinton's decision to commute the
sentence of an American lawyer convicted of laundering money for
Colombian drug traffickers.
Colombians learned of the commuted sentence for Harvey Weinig -
and of the lawyer's links to traffickers - from local news
reports this weekend, and it prompted complaints of a double
standard in the drug war.
The issue comes as President Bush and Colombian President Andres
Pastrana are to meet in the White House on Tuesday to discuss
strengthening the U.S.-backed drug war in this South American
country.
Weinig was sentenced in New York in 1996 to 11 years in prison
for laundering tens of millions of dollars in drug proceeds and
failing to report a kidnapping.
U.S. prosecutors said he was associated with the Cali drug cartel
and one of the heads of a major international ring operating in
New York and other cities, including in Germany, Switzerland,
Italy, Puerto Rico and Colombia.
In his final days in office, Clinton commuted the American
lawyer's sentence to just under six years, U.S. officials said.
He is scheduled to be released from federal prison on April 16,
the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said.
Alfonso Valdivieso, Colombia's U.N. ambassador who as top
prosecutor during the mid-1990s oversaw efforts to put drug
traffickers behind bars, called Clinton's action "sordid."
"For Colombia, this situation is quite disappointing and delivers
the wrong message," Valdivieso said on national RCN radio.
Colombians - who have endured a bloody drug war and seen some of
the country's drug kingpins extradited to the United States for
long prison sentences - often complain that their country is
making all the sacrifices while drug-consuming nations don't do
enough.
"This gives us the notion that the anti-drug fight is
asymmetrical," former Foreign Minister Rodrigo Pardo told The
Associated Press. "The United States demands more from Colombia
than it is disposed to do itself."
The Justice Department in Washington confirmed that due to
Clinton's decision, Weinig's sentence was commuted on Jan. 20 to
five years and 270 days. The congressional committee
investigating the series of pardons Clinton made in his last days
said its probe encompasses the Weinig sentence commutation.
"We are aware of the situation and we are looking into it," said
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for the House Government Reform
Committee.
Gustavo de Greiff, who preceded Valdivieso as prosecutor general
when the Colombian government fought a bloody war against the
ruthless Medellin cocaine cartel, said Colombia should reconsider
its policies regarding drug trafficking in light of Clinton's
action.
De Greiff, during his tenure as prosecutor general, was accused
by Washington of "coddling" drug traffickers because of his
policy of negotiating sentences with traffickers who surrendered
and turned in cohorts.
"This now all seems incredible to me," de Greiff said on national
radio. "What President Clinton has done, they criticized us for.
And we offered sentence reductions to those who had not been
captured yet, while the United States offers this to people who
have already been caught."
Pastrana's administration has called for tougher U.S. action
against money laundering, particularly involving U.S. banks.
AP-ES-02-26-01 1953EST
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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