Virginia Vallejo

Virginia Vallejo
Virginia Vallejo in 1987
Born	(1949-08-26) 26 August 1949 (age 67) Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Nationality	Colombian
Occupation	Writer, journalist, anchorwoman, media personality and socialite.
Spouse(s)	Fernando Borrero (1969–1971) David Stivel (1978–1981)

Virginia Vallejo García (born 26 August 1949) is a Colombian author, journalist, television anchorwoman, media personality, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America. On July 18, 2006, the DEA took her out of Colombia in a special flight to save her life and cooperate with the Department of Justice in high-profile cases, after she had publicly accused several Colombian presidents and politicians of being beneficiaries and accomplices of the leading cocaine cartels.

In early July 2006, Vallejo had offered her testimony in the case against Alberto Santofimio, a former Justice Minister and associate of Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellín cartel and her lover from 1983 to 1987. The politician was on trial for conspiracy in the assassination of Luis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate killed by Pablo Escobar on August 18, 1989. The following week, the Prosecutor Edgardo José Maya Villazón closed the case “for lack of evidence”. All of Escobar’s hitmen in the crime and several key witnesses against Santofimio had been killed, so Vallejo contacted the American Embassy in Bogota and asked the US Government to help to save her life in exchange for information on the associates of Pablo Escobar and brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela of the Cali cartel, Pablo Escobar’s nemesis. The brothers had been extradited by President Álvaro Uribe, and the trial would open in Miami in a few weeks.

The flight of the celebrity made news worldwide, and a home video that Vallejo had taped before her departure to protect her life was aired by Canal RCN of Colombia; according to the channel, it was watched by 14 million people, with higher rates of audience than the World Soccer Cup final of 2006 on June 9. Six weeks later, Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela pleaded guilty; they were sentenced to 30 years in prison, and the Department of Justice collected 2.1 billion in assets without going to trial.