The legal and political storm surrounding Colombia’s former First Lady Veronica Alcocer has shifted to an international stage. On Thursday, Jhony Batalla, the defense attorney representing former presidential adviser Eva Ferrer, announced that his client will travel to Washington, D.C. next week to deliver evidence supporting her explosive criminal allegations against Alcocer to US authorities.
The announcement comes on the heels of Ferrer’s four-hour virtual testimony before Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday, October 21. Speaking from Spain, where she relocated following an interview with Revista Semana that ignited the scandal, Ferrer reiterated allegations that Alcocer transported millions of dollars in illicit cash and narcotics on official flights returning from Venezuela. According to Batalla, who detailed the upcoming agenda during an interview with NTN24, Ferrer is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on Wednesday, October 28. Her itinerary includes high-level meetings with officials from both the U.S. Department of State and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“Because the legal process is already advancing in Colombia, it is necessary that the declaration Eva Ferrer gave and the evidence she presented during the hearing, the audio recordings and photos that effectively corroborate to a level of sufficiency that her statements are true and highly relevant, also be handed over to the United States,” Batalla stated.
The Venezuela Flights: Cash, Narcotics, and Influence Peddling
The core of Ferrer’s testimony centers on allegations that Alcocer engaged in illicit activity under the cover of diplomatic and institutional travel. In her interview with Semana, Ferrer claimed that Alcocer brought back $2.5 million in drug-related funds following a trip to Caracas, using grey suitcases transported on government aircraft.
“Talking later with Manel Grau, he told me that from that trip they brought back 2.5 million dollars,” Ferrer claimed, adding that photos allegedly exist showing Alcocer disembarking with the luggage. Beyond financial and drug trafficking allegations, Ferrer accused the former First Lady of systemic influence peddling, alleging she exerted direct pressure to secure executive appointments for key allies within major state entities, including the ICBF, Dapre, Ecopetrol, and Banco Agrario.
The Fiscalia is set to resume its formal questioning of Ferrer on Friday, October 23, at 8:00 AM, as prosecutors evaluate the audio recordings and documentation she submitted to back her claims.
Defense Mounts Counterattack: Logbooks, Handbags, and Witness Statements
Alcocer has vehemently denied all charges, characterizing Ferrer’s claims as fabrications. Taking to social media, Alcocer published a formal right of petition submitted to the Fiscalia to demand full disclosure regarding the judicial proceedings opened against her.
Alcocer confirmed taking official trips to Venezuela on January 31, 2023, and November 18, 2023, noting that the latter was conducted alongside former President Gustavo Petro, but insisted that every displacement was accompanied by official flight logbooks, institutional agendas, and public audiovisual records. In a subsequent interview with Noticias RCN, she dismissed the existence of any illicit luggage.
“There were no suitcases on that trip. I arrived with my handbag, which is how I always travel light,” Alcocer stated, asserting that the flight tickets and official itineraries disprove Ferrer’s account. Simultaneously, defense attorneys representing figures tied to the case have moved to discredit Ferrer. Inocencio Melendez, attorney for Alcocer’s cousin Mario Fernandez, whom Ferrer alleged benefited from the illicit funds, claims to possess photographic and video evidence showing Alcocer arriving in Caracas carrying only a small handbag.
Fiscalia is set to take testimony from the January 2023 delegation
Furthering Alcocer’s defense, her legal counsel, Ricardo Gaviria, requested that the Fiscalia take formal testimony from members of the January 2023 delegation. Among those requested are former Acting Culture Minister Jorge Ignacio Zorro, Ines Leyva, and Colombian pianist Pilar Leyva Duran, sister of former Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva. Speaking to EL TIEMPO, Pilar Leyva detailed her experience on the January 2023 trip to Caracas, which included Spanish businessman Manel Grau and focused on replicating Venezuela’s youth orchestra system in Colombia. Leyva noted that the group was summoned to the Catam military airbase at 3:30 AM on short notice.
“While we were waiting in a cafeteria at Catam, Mr. Manel Grau arrived and was with us. We then boarded the plane, but I understand the First Lady was delayed and we had to board without her. We saw her enter the plane when we were already in the passenger cabin. Therefore, I cannot guarantee whether she brought suitcases or if suitcases were unloaded from the plane. I only saw her with a handbag in the passenger cabin,” Leyva stated.
Leyva added that while she accompanied Alcocer to all cultural events, she was excluded from a private 10-to-15-minute protocol meeting held at Miraflores Palace between Alcocer, Zorro, and Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Former Minister Zorro similarly confirmed the brevity of the meeting with Maduro to EL TIEMPO, maintaining that no discussions regarding money, weapons, or drugs took place and noting that the delegation bypassed security screening upon returning to Catam because no one carried luggage.
As the Fiscalia continues to collect testimonies from delegation members and process the digital media submitted by Ferrer, the case threatens to evolve into a cross-border legal probe. With former Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva publicly calling for U.S. authorities to investigate wider political scandals from the previous administration, Ferrer’s upcoming sessions with the Department of State and the DEA next Wednesday could transform a domestic fallout into an international legal inquiry.