[ad_1]
The expulsion of two Russian diplomats accused of being spies who paid for classified information exposed an alleged Russian plan against national security.
The espionage plot surrounding the departure of two diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Colombia left bilateral relations with the world power at an uncertain point. On December 7, the Government gave 24 hours for the two agents to leave the country, and Moscow’s response was to appeal to the principle of reciprocity and declare two members of the Colombian diplomatic mission as ‘persona non grata’. While the Russian Foreign Ministry maintained that the accusation of espionage was unfounded and did not correspond to the “traditional spirit” of the relationship between the two nations, the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) has the thesis that the Russians launched an alleged espionage operation for three years.
(For more information: The story of two Russian spies in Colombia, what were they doing in popular neighborhoods in Bogotá?)
The decision to expel the two agents was made after collecting information for two years with the collaboration of the US and British intelligence centers, which led to the conclusion that the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations had been violated. It is the first time that a Latin American country expels members of a Russian delegation. Although in the past Colombia deported Cubans and Venezuelans for espionage, it was never immersed in a dilemma with Russia. Resuming bilateral relations without compromising national security is now the goal. However, one of the remaining suspicions is whether among the classified information that the agents collected there would be interests linked to the next elections.
The enigma operation
Little by little, details have become known about how the DNI managed to identify three Russian agents: Roman Borisov and Aleksandr Paristov, members of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and Aleksandr Nikolayevich Belousov, a member of the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU). El Tiempo and Semana published information on the existence of Operation Enigma, created by the DNI in early 2017 when they obtained information that, in the midst of the exodus of Venezuelans to Colombia, several countries took the opportunity to enter their citizens into the country. Likewise, there was an alert regarding the increase in the Russian diplomatic mission, which increased to 44 positions, mostly held by intelligence agents.
An agent of Operation Enigma told Semana magazine that in view of the urgency of understanding the interest of Russians in Colombia and their strong presence in the national territory, the DNI identified a group of citizens of the Eurasian country who were carrying out maintenance to aircraft of a helicopter company. By following up, they reached Roman Borisov, who held the position of third secretary at the Russian Embassy. Following him, they discovered that Borisov performed typical secret agent movements. The diplomat used different strategies to move around the city, took unusual routes and even took seven hours to meet his sources to avoid being followed.
(See also: The trail of Russian espionage in Latin America)
According to the DNI, Roman Borisov acceded to Colombian officials in different strategic positions who, in exchange for large sums of money, gave him information on the infrastructure, energy sector and oil sector. Likewise, they sought to reach academic circles to contact students who might have the prospect of occupying strategic positions in important private companies or strategic government positions. At the end of November 2017, the Colombian intelligence agency identified that the Russian had a wide network of collaborators who were paid for confidential information. For that reason, they went to other foreign intelligence agencies to confirm Borisov’s identity.
What was found is that the diplomat was a member of the SVR, the main Russian intelligence agency abroad and that he focuses on filtering activities to have interference in political, economic, military fields and even in matters related to technological and scientific developments . Upon being discovered, Roman Borisov left the country, but his network of contacts continued to operate. The DNI continued with the operation and in 2019 found that Borisov’s replacement was already in Colombia. It was Aleksandr Paristov, who arrived on January 17, 2019 to reconnect. Situation that made one suspect that it was not a personal or isolated issue, but rather a structured intelligence operation from Russia.
Parallel to the discovery of the two SVR agents, the DNI identified that another member of the Russian diplomatic delegation, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Belousov, was an agent of the Central Intelligence Department of Russia (GRU). The main fear is that it was the agency behind the most aggressive cyber attacks and espionage carried out by Russia. Aleksandr Nikolayevich Belousov operated in the same way as his colleagues: he looked for people in strategic positions in technology, economy, infrastructure and military matters to pay them in exchange for classified information; and he attended academic events and exhibition fairs (such as Expodefensa according to Semana) under the facade of diplomats.
With follow-ups, recordings, photographic records – several handing out money – and filtering the circle of collaborators of the Russians, the DNI learned what the objectives of the Russian agents were: to access classified information to have access to third parties with decision-making power and to move their chips according to interest. After verifying the information, the government of Iván Duque generated a complaint to the Russian ambassador to Colombia, Sergei Koshkin, on December 7, and gave 24 hours for Aleksandr Nikolayevich Belousov and Aleksandr Paristov to leave the country. On the same December 8, they left on a flight from Bogotá to Cartagena, where they later took a KLM company plane to Amsterdam.
In turn, the Colombian authorities identified the people who served them as collaborators and sold information that could compromise national security. Their identities remain confidential, as they are analyzing whether or not they can be criminally prosecuted for espionage and even treason. Faced with the possibility that the leaked information reached the Venezuelan government, the DNI has not found any link. However, there are concerns about Russian interference in the neighboring country. And while the agencies in Colombia consider that the espionage continues, from Russia the measures that have been taken, according to sources consulted, are diplomatic responses.
“On December 22, the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Republic of Colombia in the Russian Federation, Alfonso López Caballero, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, to whom a protest was expressed over Colombia’s unfounded decision to expel two diplomats from the Embassy of Russia in Bogotá (…) This action does not correspond to the spirit of traditionally friendly and mutually respectful relations between Russia and Colombia (…) The Ambassador was told that, based on the principle of reciprocity, the Russian side declares ‘personas non grata’ to two employees of the Colombian diplomatic mission in Moscow, ”reads an official statement from Russia. The expelled Colombian diplomats were Ana María Pinilla and Leonardo Andrés González, who supported the Embassy in Moscow.
(Can read: Putin expels two Colombian officials from Russia, following expulsion of two Russian spies from Colombia)
Consulted sources explained that it is necessary to understand the functioning of diplomatic missions, most of which end up carrying out intelligence work by issuing classified reports on national security or political and financial stability. “There is talk of the strange increase in the Russian delegation, which has the same quotas as the British. Only the United States has thousands of accredited people in the diplomatic mission under concepts such as security advisers, commercial advisers, among others. Many of them end up being infiltrated agents of intelligence agencies and the first case of expulsion for espionage has not been seen. You cannot enter a game of a supposed new cold war ”, they added.
The truth is that this episode marks the present of bilateral relations with Russia, which has implied that it is an unfounded case. While suspicions of espionage in Colombia increase, the lack of clarity of what is happening becomes a powder keg for the next presidential elections, which, according to the DNI, are permeable to possible leaks and cyberattacks. Strengthening strategies to protect national security, debugging the alleged Russian infiltration plan and avoiding destabilization in the country’s international relations are the challenges that add up for the Duque government at the beginning of 2021.
