A Lie Detector Reveals an Unpleasant Truth

Note poligraph for me:
prosecutor Jesus Albeiro Yepes.
(Photo: El Espectador)

This story in the other day's El Espectador newspaper reports that an experienced Colombian anti-mafia prosecutor, who was fired after refusing to take a lie detector test administered by the U.S.'s FBI in 2004, has been reinstated by a court order.

I'm struck to read that a U.S. government agency is administering lie detector tests to Colombian officials - and even moreso that Colombia would fire someone for not taking the test.

Some prosecutors who did take the FBI's test reported having been asked humiliating questions, including ones about their sex lives, El Espectador reported. (The story doesn't make clear whether or not the tests continue.)


"If one is not capable of defending his dignity, neither is he capable of guaranteeing a correct legal process," prosecutor Jesús Albeiro Yepes told El Espectador.

What have you got down there? In 2007,
a Secret Agent frisks Colombia's presidential
honor guard  before George Bush's arrival. 

Yepes has a good point. Certainly, Colombia has a corruption problem (as do many countries). But U.S. leaders have repeatedly touted Colombia as a great ally in the drug war. Doesn't such an ally deserve lots more respect and trust? Particularly if the U.S. wants Colombia to eventually stand on its own in the War on Drugs?

This story reminds me of an incident during George W. Bush's 2007 visit to Bogotá, when U.S. Secret Service agents frisked Colombia's presidential honor guard before Bush's arrival. How's that for trust?

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours