Colombian President Stripped Of His U.S. Visa

The State Department stripped Colombian President Ernesto Samper of his U.S. visa on Thursday, accusing him of accepting campaign money from drug traffickers and of furthering their interests while in office.

The action was taken under a statute that provides for a visa to be annulled when an “individual has knowingly assisted” illegal narcotics trafficking, department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

Other officials said additional visas of Colombians are expected to be revoked, including those of cabinet ministers.

The announcement came one month after the Colombian Parliament exonerated Samper of charges that he had accepted $6 million from drug traffickers. Burns said that process did not address the influence of “narcotics-tainted financing” of Samper’s 1994 campaign on his actions as president.

Samper denies knowing of the contributions from the Cali cartel and has maintained that any U.S. sanctions would only help drug traffickers and hurt U.S.-Colombian cooperation in the drug war.

Meeting with Olympics-bound athletes Thursday in Bogota, Samper did not address the visa issue directly. He said, “Never mind the lack of international understanding that at times characterizes our relations with other countries.

“Never mind that we somehow have to continue bearing the stigma of a problem that is not just ours. Never mind that they misunderstand us or deny us our rights.”

Earlier, when asked about reports he might lose his visa, Samper said he didn’t need it to govern Colombia.

Revoking the visa of a foreign head of state or dignitary is rare. Former U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim lost his U.S. visa a decade ago. Reagan administration officials acted after it was disclosed that Waldheim served in the Nazi army.