Colombia eliminates secret service

President Juan Manuel Santos Monday eliminated Colombia's disgraced secret service after years of embarrassing revelations, including its infiltration by right-wing paramilitaries, the wire-tapping of journalists and judges, and murder. "Today the DAS (secret service) is 58 years old, and we are going to eliminate it," Santos said in an address at the Narino presidential palace.
"The country knows why we have decided to take this step. It is an important one," he added. The DAS reported directly to the president. Starting in the early 2000s it was linked to a string of scandals due to its infiltration by members of the Colombian self-defence Units, paramilitaries that disbanded in 2003 and 2006.