Jeffrey Epstein Was in Colombia in July 2002

Written on 05/13/2026
Josep Freixes
Colombia’s immigration authorities confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell were in Colombia in July 2002. Credit: Unknown, Public Domain / Picryl.

Colombian immigration authorities officially confirmed that American financier Jeffrey Epstein was in Colombia in July 2002, during the final days of the administration of former President Andres Pastrana.

The revelation came after the release of official documents from Colombia Migration certifying the controversial figure’s departure from Bogota to Miami on July 20 of that year, although there is no record of his entry into the country.

The information has once again placed under scrutiny the relationships that Epstein and his circle maintained with international political figures before the businessman was prosecuted in the United States on sex crime and child trafficking charges.

In Colombia, the case has reopened questions about the ties between Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and former President Pastrana, who has acknowledged meetings with both, while insisting that he was unaware of the American financier’s criminal activities.

Jeffrey Epstein was in Colombia in July 2002

The documents were released by Colombia Migration in compliance with a ruling issued last April by the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca. In that decision, the court stated that the information constitutes a matter “of high public interest related to phenomena of international criminality.”

The judicial ruling forced the agency to disclose Epstein’s immigration records following a request filed by journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos and the outlet Casa Macondo, which had launched a legal battle to gain access to the information.

According to official records, Epstein left Colombia on July 20, 2002, on a flight departing from El Dorado International Airport bound for Miami.

The agency specified that the American was in the country on a temporary visitor visa, information corroborated with archives from Colombia’s now-defunct intelligence service, the Department of Administrative Security (DAS). However, authorities admitted that there is no documentary evidence of his entry into Colombian territory.

Colombia Migration also stated that it found no records of immigration alerts, deportation proceedings, secondary interviews, or visa extensions related to Epstein during his stay in the country. There is also no official information about the cities he visited, the people he met with, or the activities he carried out during the weeks he remained in Colombia.

The absence of an entry record has raised new questions about how Epstein entered Colombia and how long he stayed in the country before departing for the United States. Even so, authorities maintain that the departure recorded in July 2002 officially confirms his presence on Colombian soil.

Political context in Colombia in 2002 and ties to President Pastrana

The date of Epstein’s departure coincides with the final stretch of the government of Andres Pastrana, whose term ended on August 7, 2002. At the time, Colombia was going through one of the most complex periods of its internal armed conflict, marked by the collapse of the peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the intensification of the war, and the implementation of Plan Colombia with support from the United States.

In that context, Pastrana maintained an intense international agenda and a close diplomatic relationship with Washington. Years later, photographs and records emerged linking him socially to Epstein and Maxwell, amid the network of international contacts the financier built with businessmen, politicians, and celebrities in different countries.

The new revelations have reignited a debate that had gained momentum in Colombia since 2019, when records surfaced of private flights associated with Epstein that included the former Colombian president. At the time, Pastrana acknowledged having crossed paths with Epstein and Maxwell, although he said the encounters were formal and denied having a close friendship with the financier.

In fact, confirmation of the American financier’s departure from Colombia aligns with statements Maxwell made to the United States Department of Justice, declassified in December of last year, in which she stated that “we traveled with Pastrana to Colombia, and Epstein was also present.”

In those same files, Maxwell described an aerial tour aboard a Black Hawk helicopter of the Colombian Air Force during that visit. In the documents declassified by the American justice system, Pastrana’s name appears 37 times. Local media outlets in Colombia published photographs showing Maxwell and the former president wearing Colombian Air Force uniforms in 2002, sparking outrage among much of the country’s political class and society.

Following the publication of those images, former President Andres Pastrana acknowledged holding meetings with Epstein and Maxwell, although in 2019 he denied being friends with the financier. Meanwhile, President Gustavo Petro reacted to the revelations from the U.S. State Department and demanded explanations for the presence of what he called “Epstein’s pedophile club” in Colombia during that administration.

Epstein died in August 2019 in a federal prison in New York City while awaiting trial on new charges of child sex trafficking. U.S. authorities officially concluded that it was a suicide, although the case remains surrounded by theories and controversy due to the scale of the businessman’s political and economic connections. Maxwell, for her part, is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States for crimes related to the sexual exploitation of children.