The National Intelligence Directorate ( es, Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia; DNI) is the main
intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...
of Colombia. It is the successor organization to the
Administrative Department of Security
The Administrative Department of Security ( es, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS) was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as pa ...
(DAS) which was tasked with providing internal and external intelligence, law enforcement and immigration control. The agency reports solely to the
President of Colombia
The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...
, and is currently led by retired Admiral Rodolfo Amaya.
In November 2011, President
Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
An economist by profession and a journalist by trade, ...
announced that he would be dissolving the
Administrative Department of Security
The Administrative Department of Security ( es, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS) was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as pa ...
after the agency went through various scandals involving agents spying on politicians and judges. Aside from the scandals, the creation of the DNI was incentivised by the need to revamp the intelligence services, and decentralise power among the security and intelligence institutions in Colombia. The DNI unlike its predecessor organisation the
DAS, does not take part in
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
activities, nor does it control the border and immigration services. Its main task is Intelligence both domestic and abroad, and counter intelligence. Its strategic vision was laid out in 2011, with the aim of becoming a leader in the production and analysis of strategic intelligence and counter intelligence in the national and international realm by 2019. One practical aspect towards reaching this goal has been to diversity its recruitment pool by providing more professional career pathways for individuals with no military or police background.
References
{{National intelligence agencies
Colombian intelligence agencies