The problem of what has come to be called 'narco-funding' of politics has been described in a recent study by Eduardo Posada-Carbo:
«On June 21, 1994, just a few hours after the electoral celebrations ended,... the [Colombian] public learned of the existence of some tapes, dubbed the narco-cassettes, whose contents suggested that money from drug-trafficking had financed the presidential election campaign. Police raids a week or so later yielded documentary evidence linking the Cali drugs cartel with a significant number of politicians.
« ... the scandal has led to penal action against prominent figures on an unprecedented scale in Colombia. Fernando Bolero, the director of Ernesto Samper's presidential election campaign and, until August 1995, his minister of defense, is now serving a jail sentence. The treasurer and administrator of the campaign are also behind bars. About 20 members of Congress ... are currently under investigation, some are under arrest. The procurator general (attorney-general) was removed from his post and is now in prison ...»
«Colombian elections are financed also by contributions from business enterprises such as the Grupo Santo Domingo. This is justified by Senator Jaime Arias, leader of the Partido Conservador on the ground that «[w]ere it not for the contributions of big companies, there would be more money from the mafiosi «.
«This fear of campaign financing by the drug cartels is hardly surprising ... the dramatic rise of homicide rates since the late 1970s suggests a close connection between drug-trafficking and violence ... The assassination in 1989 of Luis Carlos Galan, the front-runner for the presidential election stunned the country... The extent to which money from the drug trade has gone into electioneering cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy... A commission set up to look into this issue after the electoral campaign of 1982 acknowledged that: «Some people without any political background were getting access to parliamentary seats through deals in which drug money was a factor.» ...
«[I]n the 1994 presidential election] alleged sums entering the campaign from the drug cartels -estimates range from $3 m by the Fiscalia to $6 m by some journalists - were unprecedented. Moreover, it is not known how much drugs money goes into the campaigns of congressmen and other elected officials.» ( Posada-Carbo.1996, 4 ff.)
