The events that followed
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination in 1948 provoked a violent riot in Bogotá, now known as the
Bogotazo, which also started a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia known in Colombian history as
La Violencia. These events also brought in a
Military Government headed by General
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. Within the policies implemented by this Government was the creation, by means of Presidential
Decree 2872 of 1953, of an administrative department known as the
Colombian Administrative Department of Intelligence Services, (
SIC). This department was in charge of Internal and External Intelligence and was created with the purpose of having an agency within the framework of the State to handle matters of intelligence, security and Constitutional enforcement. President
Alberto Lleras Camargo changed the course of the SIC when he issued the Decree 1717 of 18 July 1960, substituting the SIC with the
Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), or Administrative Department of Security. The DAS formally became the Security Organization of the State as an official, technical, professional and
apolitical institution during the administration of President
César Gaviria Trujillo, by means of Decree 2110 of 1992. Subsequently, was selected as the new DAS Director, together with the announcement of
polygraph tests for DAS personnel and the creation of a commission tasked with proposing reforms and a restructuring of the DAS. Between January and March 2006, new allegations came to light about DAS-paramilitary relations and former Director Noguera's potential involvement. President Uribe publicly asked Noguera to appear before the Attorney General's office, but Noguera refused alleging economic and security reasons. Noguera was then acting
Consul in
Milan,
Italy. He later resigned, returned to the country and appeared before judicial authorities. On February 22, 2007, Noguera was arrested, accused of having ties to paramilitaries. On June 11, 2008, the Colombian Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of Jorge Noguera. According to the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective, Noguera was only released due to procedural defects; however the charges against him,
conspiracy to commit a crime, misuse of authority through an arbitrary and unjust act, and improper use of classified or secret information, may still be prosecuted. On October 24, 2008, the head of the DAS
Maria del Pilar Hurtado stepped down from her post after allegations that the agency had conducted surveillance on Senator
Gustavo Petro and other left-wing political opponents of President
Álvaro Uribe Vélez. The incident has been dubbed The
Colombian Watergate, in reference to the
Watergate scandal in the
United States involving President
Richard Nixon and
wiretapping. The allegations were later admitted to be true after some internal memos were anonymously received by Senator Petro. One ordered that information be gathered on Petro's "contacts with people who offer to testify against the government.". Hurtado said that she at no time had received or given any instructions linked to the incidents that were made public, and that she was stepping down to preserve the honour of the agency. She was under political asylum in the country of Panama and has been requested in extradition by the Colombian Government after having undergone Justice trial. Panama has declined the extradition to this date. She turned herself in on February 6, 2015, at the Colombian Embassy in Panama. , she is in prison and awaiting trial in Colombia. President Uribe made Joaquín Polo Montalvo the subdirector of DAS the new
acting director.
Dissolution In late 2011, President
Juan Manuel Santos announced that DAS was to be replaced by a new agency, the national intelligence agency (ANIC, in Spanish). The purpose of the new agency would be solely to gather intelligence. The additional functions under the purview of DAS, namely immigration and security protocols, were distributed to the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Ministry of the Interior. == See also ==