Virginia Vallejo

Virginia Vallejo

Virginia Vallejo in 1987
Born (1949-08-26) 26 August 1949
Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Nationality Colombian
Occupation Writer, journalist, anchorwoman, media personality and socialite.
Spouse(s) Fernando Borrero (1969–1971)
David Stivel (1978–1981)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Vallejo and the second or maternal family name is García.

Virginia Vallejo García (born 26 August 1949) is a Colombian author, journalist, television anchorwoman,[1] media personality, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America. On July 18, 2006, the DEA took her out of Colombia in a special flight to save her life and cooperate with the Department of Justice in high-profile cases, after she had publicly accused several Colombian presidents and politicians of being beneficiaries and accomplices of the leading cocaine cartels.[2]

Exile to the U.S.

In early July 2006, Vallejo had offered her testimony in the case against Alberto Santofimio,[3] a former Justice Minister and associate of Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellín cartel and her lover from 1983 to 1987. The politician was on trial for conspiracy in the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate killed by Pablo Escobar on August 18, 1989. The following week, the Prosecutor Edgardo José Maya Villazón closed the case “for lack of evidence”. All of Escobar’s hitmen in the crime and several key witnesses against Santofimio had been killed, so Vallejo contacted the American Embassy in Bogota and asked the US Government to help to save her life in exchange for information on the associates of Pablo Escobar and brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela of the Cali cartel, Pablo Escobar’s nemesis. The brothers had been extradited by President Álvaro Uribe,[4] and the trial would open in Miami in a few weeks.

The flight of the celebrity made news worldwide, and a home video that Vallejo had taped before her departure to protect her life was aired by Canal RCN of Colombia; according to the channel, it was watched by 14 million people, with higher rates of audience than the World Soccer Cup final of 2006 on June 9. Six weeks later, Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela pleaded guilty; they were sentenced to 30 years in prison, and the Department of Justice collected 2.1 billion in assets without going to trial.[5]

Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar (Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar)

In 2007, Vallejo published Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar (In English: Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar), in which she describes, among other topics, her romantic relationship with Pablo Escobar; the origins of the rebel organizations in Colombia; the reasons for the explosive growth of the cocaine industry; the birth of MAS (Muerte a Secuestradores), which in English means Death to Kidnappers, The Extraditables, and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia; the links among the Medellin and Cali cartels, Caribbean dictators, and the Colombian presidents Alfonso López Michelsen,[6] Ernesto Samper,[7] and Álvaro Uribe;[8][9] the siege of the Palace of Justice in 1985;[10][11] Escobar's relationship with the extreme left and extreme right rebel groups; the horrors during the era of narcoterrorism from 1988 -1993; and the hunt for and death of her former lover on December 2, 1993.[12] Vallejo’s memoir became the number one bestselling Spanish-language book in both Colombia and the United States.

Testimony in the siege of the Palace of Justice

In July 2008, Vallejo testified in the reopened case of the Palace of Justice siege (November 6 & 7, 1985),[13] a massacre that cost the lives of more than 100 people, including 11 Supreme Court Justices, rebels of the M-19, government agents and dozens of unarmed civilians.[14] In the chapter “That Palace in Flames” (“Aquel Palacio en Llamas”),[15] she had detailed the reasons of each group of actors involved in the tragedy: “Though the M-19 and the Medellin cartel were responsible for the siege, the military were responsible for the massacre”.[16][17][18] Also, she signaled at the lack of action of President Belisario Betancur: “The rebel commanders of the M-19 took the Justices as hostage to force the government to listen to their demands, including rejection of the extradition treaty. But, President Betancur refused to take the calls of the President of the Supreme Court, Magistrate Reyes Echandia, pleading to save their lives and, instead, allowed the army and the police to bomb a building with 400 people inside”.[19][20] In her testimony under oath, she described what Pablo Escobar had told her the following year, after ten months of separation, “The people detained after the fire, many with third degree burns, were sent to military garrisons where they were tortured - and the women gang-raped[21][22] - in the hope of finding the hiding places of other rebel commanders and the money that I had paid them to steal my files before the Court ruled on our extradition. Then, the victims were killed and disappeared in cans of quicklime and sulfuric acid.”[23][24] At the end of that chapter, she had summarized the tragic events: “That holocaust was the conflagration of the Colombian justice system and the triumph of the establishment, the traditional parties, and “Los Extraditables” with Escobar at the head".[25][26]

Testimony in the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán

In July 2009, Vallejo testified in the reopened case of the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán[27] which occurred on August 18, 1989,[28] and signaled at Alberto Santofimio as the key instigator of the candidate’s assassination.[29] She described how, in 1984 and 1985 and in her presence, Alberto Santofimio had repeatedly asked Pablo Escobar to “eliminate Senator Galan before he could become the president and extradite him”.[30][31]

Political asylum in the United States of America

Due to brutal retaliation and thousands of threats posted under the name of Vallejo in the search engines from 2007 to 2010,[32] the United States of America granted her political asylum on June 3, 2010.[33]

Verdicts against the military and Alberto Santofimio

Twenty-five years after the Palace of Justice massacre, on June 9, 2010 judge Maria Stella Jara sentenced Colonel Alfonso Plazas of the army to 30 years in prison for forced disappearance of the detained.[34][35] President Uribe attacked the verdict on television and offered his protection to the military.[36][37] The next week, with a European human rights organization, judge Jara had to flee Colombia and went into exile.[38][39][40]

After 18 years of delays and appeals, in 2007 Alberto Santofimio received 24 years of prison for conspiracy with Pablo Escobar in the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán.[41][42][43]

Portrayals in art, entertainment, and media

Vallejo's life with Pablo Escobar is depicted in the 2012 Caracol TV series Escobar, el Patrón del Mal (Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord), featuring Angie Cepeda playing Vallejo.

In the 2015 Netflix series Narcos, the character Valeria Velez, played by Stephanie Sigman, is based on Vallejo. Velez is depicted as Pablo Escobar's mistress and a key supporter of his political ambitions.[44]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Virginia Vallejo, anchorwoman 1994 on YouTube
  2. ↑ Virginia Vallejo left Colombia in special flight of the DEA, 2006
  3. ↑ Former lover of Pablo Escobar involves to colombian political in crime of presidential candidate
  4. ↑ Colombian drug baron extradited
  5. ↑ Cali Cartel Leaders Plead Guilty to Drug and Money Laundering Conspiracy Charges
  6. ↑ Interview of the W Radio on YouTube
  7. ↑ Narco-presidents on YouTube
  8. ↑ El País Madrid: "El narcoestado soñado por Escobar tiene más vigencia que nunca"
  9. ↑ The New York Times: President Uribe denies links with Pablo Escobar
  10. ↑ Virginia Vallejo´s Testimony
  11. ↑ Vallejo´s Testimony in Historical Processes
  12. ↑ The New York Times: Escobar’s death
  13. ↑ Virginia Vallejo testified about the case of the Palace of Justice Siege on YouTube
  14. ↑ W Radio: Interview with Virginia Vallejo about of the Palace of Justice siege on YouTube
  15. ↑ Vallejo, Virginia (2007). Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar. Random House Mondadori. p. 227-251.
  16. ↑ Estado Colombiano reconoce responsabilidad en víctimas del Palacio de Justicia
  17. ↑ Truth Commission Blames Colombian State for Palace of Justice Tragedy
  18. ↑ Piden condena a militares (r) por desaparecidos en la toma del Palacio de Justicia
  19. ↑ Expresidente Belisario Betancur pide perdón por sus actos en caso del Palacio Justicia
  20. ↑ Presidente Belisario Betancourt se dirige al país asumiendo toda la responsabilidad por las acciones emprendidas por la fuerza pública on YouTube
  21. ↑ Sobrevivientes de holocausto fueron torturados y sometidos a tratos inhumanos y degradantes
  22. ↑ Exconsejero de Estado confirma que sí hubo torturas en retoma del Palacio de Justicia on YouTube
  23. ↑ Vallejo, Virginia (2007). Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar. Random House Mondadori. p. 256-261.
  24. ↑ DISAPPEARED AT THE PALACE OF JUSTICE
  25. ↑ Vallejo, Virginia (2007). Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar. Random House Mondadori. p. 250.
  26. ↑ Palace of Justice siege: 24 years of injustice
  27. ↑ Colombian Presidential Candidate is slain at Rally
  28. ↑ Ex-Colombia minister held for murder
  29. ↑ Fiscal listen to Virginia Vallejo in United States on YouTube
  30. ↑ Virginia Vallejo's testimony on Santofimio and politicians supported by the drug cartels at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 August 2009)
  31. ↑ Colombia: Ex-Minister Guilty in Assassination
  32. ↑ Colombian journalist describes threats and harassment on YouTube
  33. ↑ Political Asylum to Virginia Vallejo on YouTube
  34. ↑ First sentence against high rank military in the case of the Palace of Justice
  35. ↑ Retired Colombian army officer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the forced disappearance of 10 civilians
  36. ↑ Military Justice interfering in Palace of Justice case
  37. ↑ The Colombian government should not protect military commanders from prosecution for human rights violations committed by them
  38. ↑ UN urges Colombian gov't to protect judge issued landmark ruling
  39. ↑ The Interamerican Commission on Human Rights has asked the government to take steps to protect the life of judge Maria Stella Jara Gutierrez and her son
  40. ↑ Letter sent to President Santos of Colombia by high members of US justice and law
  41. ↑ Colombia ex-justice chief jailed
  42. ↑ Colombian Supreme Court upholds conviction a former justice minister for his role in the assassination of presidential candidate
  43. ↑ Ex-minister transferred to prison over Galan murder
  44. ↑ Thomas, Leah. "How Historically Accurate is Narcos". Bustle. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

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