Colombia’s access to a global information-sharing platform has been suspended after President Gustavo Petro shared confidential information officials had obtained from the group.
The Egmont Group, an international organisation created to combat money laundering, said in a statement that Colombia’s government will no longer have access to a secure web used by the group to share data on financial crimes which can be accessed by 177 member countries.
The group said the measure will remain in effect while it further investigates the situation.
Earlier this month, Mr Petro read out information from a document obtained through the Egmont Group suggesting that in 2021, Colombia’s government, which was then headed by conservative president Ivan Duque, paid an Israeli company 11 million dollars (£8.2 million) in cash to acquire Pegasus spyware.
Mr Petro made the revelation during a nationally televised speech, where many expected him to discuss a truckers’ strike.
The president saidthe spyware was used by Mr Duque’s conservative administration to spy on activists and members of left-wing parties that opposed his government, including Mr Petro himself.
Duque administration officials have denied the charges.
Pegasus can gather information from mobile phones undetected and control phone cameras and microphones.
Es el costo de la Verdad. Ahora Colombia sabe que un documento oficial de la agencia israelí IMPA, que por la ley colombiana de inteligencia y en defensa de los derechos humanos desclasifiqué, efectivamente muestra días, forma y banco donde se consignaron 11 millones de dólares… https://t.co/v9HvYf1wi9
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 24, 2024
The software was developed by an Israeli company and has been used to target more than 50,000 politicians, journalists and human rights activists by at least a dozen governments, according to a report published by Amnesty International and 18 media organisations in 2021.
Security analysts have said Colombia’s suspension from the Egmont Group’s information-sharing platform weakens the nation’s capabilities to detect illegal transactions made by drug trafficking groups, and other criminal organisations.
Mr Petro on Monday defended his decision to declassify confidential information, arguing he did so to defend the nation’s interests.
“This is the price of truth,” Mr Petro wrote in a message on X, adding that Colombians now know how his predecessor “paid” for Pegasus.
