The businessman Victor de Aldama said this Thursday at the National Court on a voluntary basis. There, beyond pointing fingers Government and PSOE figures Like Santos Cerdán, he also recounted his membership or collaboration with intelligence services around the world. A story worthy of a spy film which at first seemed impossible. However, this Friday it was confirmed that, indeed, the businessman accused in the ‘Koldo affairwas decorated by the Civil Guard.
This was confirmed by laSexta after consulting the Official Journal of the Civil Guard of September 27, 2022. This official document indicates that Víctor de Aldama received the Cross with white badge of the Order of Merit from the Army Institute. An appointment which ultimately falls to the Ministry of the Interior led by the socialist Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
It should be noted that the commission agent is not the only one to benefit from this recognition. De Aldama appears in this Bulletin in a long list of names. He understands everything, from a colonel of the Civil Guard Information Headquarters (JIGC)the elite anti-terrorist unit of the Civil Guard, to collaborators who do not belong to the Armed Institute. This would be the case of the commission agent having been a source of information.
A fan-shaped statement
One of the issues that Aldama highlighted this Thursday before Judge Ismael Moreno of the National Court was his collaboration with different security forces, including secret services. Among these, as he pointed out, would be the CIA itself, but also the FBI or the British intelligence service, MI6.
Specifically, within the Civil Guard, he claimed to have provided information to the Corps’ counterterrorism information unit, the one known as UCE2. “I bought a drone from the UCE2, I went to Logroño to shoot with the GAR, I have a medal from the UCE2 which is at the BOE, just as I have a relationship with the CIA and the FBI through UCE2”, he explained. of Aldama in court.
The reactions were not long in coming. More specifically and with regard to this part of the statement, the government used irony. On the one hand, the first vice-president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, and her counterpart for territorial policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, compared the commissioner to the ‘Little Nicholas‘. Even the president of the executive tagged “character”while the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, estimated that “he didn’t say he was a TIA agent”.
Interior is already working on removal
The one who did not speak from the Executive, however, was the Minister of the Interior, although from the portfolio they emphasized to RTVE in the afternoon of this Friday that they were already working on the withdrawal of this medal to Víctor de Aldama. A decision known after the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) requested it “immediate” way.
According to the AUGC, this is “unacceptable that decorations are awarded to people whose career may contradict the principles of ethics, honesty and commitment which govern our institution”. This association stressed that this practice “not only tarnishes the prestige of the Civil Guard, but also deeply hurts the agents who devote their entire lives to the service without receiving the recognition they deserve.”
This entity recalled that it is “fundamental to guarantee that distinctions within the body reflect a impeccable conduct and not an object of social questioning”, which is why he formally asked Marlaska to cancel the decoration. These agents reiterated their attachment to the transparency and dignity of the institution, as well as to the defense of interests and reputation of all civil guards who are part of the security forces.
