Colombian establishment rocked by death squad scandal
by Sibylla Brodzinsky in Bogotá, Wednesday November 29, 2006
Colombia's political establishment is being shaken to its core by almost daily revelations of how allies of President Alvaro Uribe apparently worked hand-in-hand with feared rightwing militias who used terror for more than a decade to impose their will on the population.
The country's supreme court this week ordered six high profile, pro-Uribe politicians - including the foreign minister's brother - to submit to questioning about their alleged links with the paramilitary groups, which are blamed for the massacre, murder and torture of thousands of Colombians.
Two senators, an acting representative and a former congresswoman from the northern province of Sucre have already been arrested on similar charges, and a former governor is at large. Senator Alvaro García, the lynchpin of Sucre politics, even faces murder charges for allegedly planning the 2000 massacre of 14 people in a small village and for ordering the murder of an election official.
The expanding investigation will have unpredictable repercussions for the political and economic elite according to political analyst Vicente Torrijos with Bogotá's Rosario University. He predicts a "domino effect" through Colombia's political establishment as politicians try to "save themselves by implicating others".
Senator Miguel de la Espriella from northern Córdoba province revealed in a Sunday newspaper interview that he was among about 40 politicians that had signed a political pact with paramilitary leaders when they were at the height of the their power in 2001. Yesterday, the revelation claimed the head of a minor official in Mr Uribe's government who also admitted to signing the pact when he was a member of Congress.
And as the political crisis snowballs it is also closing in on the country's top leadership. "No one knows how high this goes," said Adam Isacson, who monitors Colombia for the Washington-based think-tank Centre for International Policy.
Senator Alvaro Araújo, who is among the six called to testify before the supreme court, is the brother of Mr Uribe's foreign minister, María Consuelo Araújo. He has warned publicly that if he went down it could taint the government, and the former head of Colombia's intelligence agency during Mr Uribe's first term is also being investigated by state prosecutors for collaboration with the paramilitaries.
Despite persistent allegations that the president himself is linked to the paramilitaries, no credible evidence has been presented. In a recent speech, Mr Uribe challenged the militia leaders to implicate him. "If any of those 30,000 paramilitaries can say that the president has been complicit, let them come forward," he said.
Colombia's paramilitary groups were originally formed by wealthy cattle ranchers, business owners and drug mafias in the 1980s to fight off extortion and kidnapping by leftwing guerrillas. The paramilitaries later turned into powerful armies heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion themselves, and who used terror tactics to control local politics and politicians.
Collusion between the rightwing militias and the government's military and police forces is well documented by human rights groups, but until now the extent to which the paramilitaries had co-opted politics and local government was one of Colombia best-known secrets.
Some charges against politicians were filed - and then buried - more than five years ago, but the allegations resurfaced after their names appeared in files discovered on the laptop of a top paramilitary leader known as Jorge 40. The computer, which was seized earlier this year, contained files including detailed accounts and audio recordings of meetings between local politicians and paramilitaries to ensure the election of the militia's chosen candidates. Scams in which the paramilitaries stole state funds from local health services were also unearthed.
The former chiefs of the militia groups, which demobilized as many as 30,000 troops, are currently awaiting prosecution for their crimes under a controversial law that grants them reduced prison sentences of up to eight years if they confess their crimes.
They sent shudders through Colombia's ruling class when they called on their "sponsors, collaborators and direct beneficiaries, business people, politicians, regional and local leaders, members of the state security forces among others" to join them in revealing details of the intricate web of financing and support that developed as the militias expanded their power throughout Colombia.
Some commentators have warned that Colombia may not be ready to learn the whole truth about how the paramilitaries were able to gain so much military and political strength nationwide that they claim to control 30% of Congress.
"The truth could be much more overwhelming than what would appear from the recent scandals: the paramilitary phenomenon was huge ... in addition to being a counterinsurgent military project, it was also a political project," the Fundacion Seguridad y Democracia thinktank said in a recent report.
For most people in the provinces where the politicians ran their political campaigns, the links with the rightwing militias was never any secret. In Sucre, they watch with a mixture of glee and fear as the men and women they knew to be working with the paramilitaries are brought to bear for their actions.
"There could be reprisals if we're not careful," said Arnol Gómez, the leader of a victims' association that has collaborated with prosecutors to implicate the politicians. "But it's worth it."
Colombia's political establishment is being shaken to its core by almost daily revelations of how allies of President Alvaro Uribe apparently worked hand-in-hand with feared rightwing militias who used terror for more than a decade to impose their will on the population.
The country's supreme court this week ordered six high profile, pro-Uribe politicians - including the foreign minister's brother - to submit to questioning about their alleged links with the paramilitary groups, which are blamed for the massacre, murder and torture of thousands of Colombians.
Two senators, an acting representative and a former congresswoman from the northern province of Sucre have already been arrested on similar charges, and a former governor is at large. Senator Alvaro García, the lynchpin of Sucre politics, even faces murder charges for allegedly planning the 2000 massacre of 14 people in a small village and for ordering the murder of an election official.
The expanding investigation will have unpredictable repercussions for the political and economic elite according to political analyst Vicente Torrijos with Bogotá's Rosario University. He predicts a "domino effect" through Colombia's political establishment as politicians try to "save themselves by implicating others".
Senator Miguel de la Espriella from northern Córdoba province revealed in a Sunday newspaper interview that he was among about 40 politicians that had signed a political pact with paramilitary leaders when they were at the height of the their power in 2001. Yesterday, the revelation claimed the head of a minor official in Mr Uribe's government who also admitted to signing the pact when he was a member of Congress.
And as the political crisis snowballs it is also closing in on the country's top leadership. "No one knows how high this goes," said Adam Isacson, who monitors Colombia for the Washington-based think-tank Centre for International Policy.
Senator Alvaro Araújo, who is among the six called to testify before the supreme court, is the brother of Mr Uribe's foreign minister, María Consuelo Araújo. He has warned publicly that if he went down it could taint the government, and the former head of Colombia's intelligence agency during Mr Uribe's first term is also being investigated by state prosecutors for collaboration with the paramilitaries.
Despite persistent allegations that the president himself is linked to the paramilitaries, no credible evidence has been presented. In a recent speech, Mr Uribe challenged the militia leaders to implicate him. "If any of those 30,000 paramilitaries can say that the president has been complicit, let them come forward," he said.
Colombia's paramilitary groups were originally formed by wealthy cattle ranchers, business owners and drug mafias in the 1980s to fight off extortion and kidnapping by leftwing guerrillas. The paramilitaries later turned into powerful armies heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion themselves, and who used terror tactics to control local politics and politicians.
Collusion between the rightwing militias and the government's military and police forces is well documented by human rights groups, but until now the extent to which the paramilitaries had co-opted politics and local government was one of Colombia best-known secrets.
Some charges against politicians were filed - and then buried - more than five years ago, but the allegations resurfaced after their names appeared in files discovered on the laptop of a top paramilitary leader known as Jorge 40. The computer, which was seized earlier this year, contained files including detailed accounts and audio recordings of meetings between local politicians and paramilitaries to ensure the election of the militia's chosen candidates. Scams in which the paramilitaries stole state funds from local health services were also unearthed.
The former chiefs of the militia groups, which demobilized as many as 30,000 troops, are currently awaiting prosecution for their crimes under a controversial law that grants them reduced prison sentences of up to eight years if they confess their crimes.
They sent shudders through Colombia's ruling class when they called on their "sponsors, collaborators and direct beneficiaries, business people, politicians, regional and local leaders, members of the state security forces among others" to join them in revealing details of the intricate web of financing and support that developed as the militias expanded their power throughout Colombia.
Some commentators have warned that Colombia may not be ready to learn the whole truth about how the paramilitaries were able to gain so much military and political strength nationwide that they claim to control 30% of Congress.
"The truth could be much more overwhelming than what would appear from the recent scandals: the paramilitary phenomenon was huge ... in addition to being a counterinsurgent military project, it was also a political project," the Fundacion Seguridad y Democracia thinktank said in a recent report.
For most people in the provinces where the politicians ran their political campaigns, the links with the rightwing militias was never any secret. In Sucre, they watch with a mixture of glee and fear as the men and women they knew to be working with the paramilitaries are brought to bear for their actions.
"There could be reprisals if we're not careful," said Arnol Gómez, the leader of a victims' association that has collaborated with prosecutors to implicate the politicians. "But it's worth it."
posted by Alice at
Monday, December 04, 2006
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