Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia Presidential Candidate, Oversaw The Company Managing Elections

[Judi Lynn]

Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia Presidential Candidate, Oversaw The Company Managing Elections
Special to the Huffington Post Investigative Fund |
Nadja Drost
First Posted: 06-18-10 06:17 PM | Updated: 06-18-10 06:18 PM

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - The man most likely to become Colombia's next president this Sunday has played a previously undisclosed role as a corporate officer of the company hired to run the nation's elections over the last decade, while he was a political leader, business records obtained by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund show.

The role of Juan Manuel Santos - a former defense minister in the government of current president Alvaro Uribe and a scion of one of the nation's most powerful families - is not widely known in the South American country, where his family controls some of the leading news organizations and there are reports of voting irregularities.

Riding on Uribe's coattails and backed by the massive political machine of Uribe's party, known simply as "U," Santos is 39 points ahead in polls over Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus, a mathematician and former Bogotá mayor who vows to banish the nation's rampant corruption and cronyism.

That has prompted Santos to counter with his own messages about fighting corruption - and to insist on transparent politics in his own campaign. "I have the most radical and convincing proposal against corruption," Santos told reporters, adding he plans on creating special investigative units to tackle corruption.

But documents obtained from Colombia's Camera de Comercio - the private national Chamber of Commerce - raise questions about a possible conflict of interest and show that he may not be so committed to transparency as it seems. The documents listing the board's membership made clear that he sat for several years on the board of directors of a securities firm that manages election logistics- from printing voting cards to transporting stuffed ballot boxes - while at the same time heading Uribe's "U" political party.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/18/juan-manuel-santos-colombia-election_n_617966.html

http://formaementis.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2008/11/santos-bush-uribe-montoya.jpg

http://theamericano.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/santos.jpg

Santos with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates

http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/03Xa5hw0uoaSF/610x.jpg

Santos with Florida Cuban "exile" Congresswoman
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Missouri Rep. Roy Blount.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Santos denies involvement in vote buying

Santos denies involvement in vote buying
Friday, 18 June 2010 08:59 Brett Borkan

Presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos denied on Friday that his campaign team had instructed government-run social program "Familias en Accion" to pressure citizens to vote for him in the Colombia's first round presidential elections, and condemned those who were behind the manipulation, reported W Radio.

"No one from my campaign has given instructions to threaten the people who form part of Familias en Accion. What I had said is that if there is anyone who can say who it was, may they speak," Santos said.

Santos went on to explain that it is logical that those that benefit from the Familias en Accion program would vote for him, because he is the candidate who represents continuity of the policies of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe.

"It is most logical that these people who benefited from the program would vote for me, its totally logical, there is nothing unethical about this, but it is not true that those who do not vote for me will lose their Familias en Accion benefits."

On Thursday, Santos' opponent for the June 20 run-off election, the Green Party's Antanas Mockus, complained to the Inspector General's Office that during the May 30 first round election employees of government social program Familias en Accion were offering voters rewards in return for voting for Santos.

Santos also defended himself on Friday against allegations that he had overstepped his boundaries in his 1997 negotations with guerrilla and paramilitary groups, saying that he was only seeking peace.

"We had never spoken of doing anything outside of what the government had authorized us to do...There was never a plan to overthrow the government of Samper," Santos argued.

Santos' comments follow criticism from Mockus in a recent debate regarding his meetings with former FARC leader "Raul Reyes" in Costa Rica, and a meeting with former head of paramilitary group the AUC, Carlos Castaño.

In April, former Colombian President Ernesto Samper said that he had been aware of plans by Santos to coordinate a coup during Samper's time as head of state from 1994 to 1998.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/2010-elections/10319-santos-denies-involvement-in-vote-buying.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. You must see the rest of this material. From the original article:

~snip~
In 2002, within a month of stepping down as finance minister when Uribe became president, Santos joined the board of directors of Thomas Greg and the Sons de Colombia group in Colombia, part of a part of a UK-based securities firm named Thomas Greg and Sons.

The company had been hired as a government contractor to oversee logistics during the 2002 election that ushered Uribe into power. The following year, it won a contract worth $27.3 million through one of its affiliated companies to conduct municipal and departmental elections, according to Colombia news accounts.

Santos played a key part in founding the political party known as “U,” quickly rising to become its leader in August 2005. He was still on the board of Thomas Greg and Sons the same week as the May 2006 presidential elections, according to company meeting records examined by a reporter in Bogotá.

By joining with its own partners or other companies, the firm created “temporary unions” for the purpose of specific contracts. One such company, called DISPROEL 2006, ran the elections that year. The National Registry’s office offered $29 million for the job, though the final contract was not available.

On edit:

I have to run, but this is the website of the Securities firm for which he worked mentioned above, English translation:
http://www.thomasgreg.com/?lang=1&lang=1

[bemildred]

3. "transporting stuffed ballot boxes"

Translation problem? Slip of the tongue? Unfortunate outbreak of candor?

[Judi Lynn]

4. Santos planned coup against President Samper: AUC boss

Santos planned coup against President Samper: AUC boss
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 14:05 Cameron Sumpter

Presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos asked paramilitary head Carlos Castaño to carry out a coup to overthrow then-President Ernesto Samper, claims extradited AUC commander Salvatore Mancuso, reports El Espectador.

Speaking from the U.S., Mancuso also said that former deputy director of security agency DAS, Jose Miguel Narvaez, had visited paramilitary camps to politically indoctrinate their fighters at a time when he was officiating as advisor to the Ministry of Defense.

Mancuso added that without the cooperation of DAS, the Colombian army, and the police, the paramilitaries would never have been able to take control of the Caribbean region.

The Colombian army supported the AUC in many operations against guerrillas in different parts of the country, according to the former commander.

The jailed AUC commander repeated his accusation that during the same period, current Vice President Francisco Santos, cousin of the Partido de La U presidential candidate, proposed the creation of urban paramilitary squads in Bogota.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/9276-mancuso-santos-wanted-a-coup-.html