Uncovered body may be Colombian warlord

[Judi Lynn]

Uncovered body may be Colombian warlord
2006/9

By TOBY MUSE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 38 minutes ago

BOGOTA, Colombia - Authorities have uncovered what they believe to be the corpse of Colombia‘s most infamous far-right warlord after his alleged killer led forensic investigators to a shallow grave.

The corpse was found partially clothed and showed evidence of a violent death more than two years ago, coinciding with the time of Castano‘s disappearance, authorities said.

He said it would take investigators a few days to positively identify the remains through DNA analysis.

Friday‘s search was the latest twist in a tale pitting brother against brother: Witnesses say Roldan killed Castano on the order of Castano‘s older brother, Vicente Castano.

Carlos disappeared in April 2004. Paramilitary leaders said he had made a deal with the U.S. government and went into hiding. But there was also widespread suspicion that he was killed by members of the United Self-defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, which he helped found a decade earlier.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsone.ca/piercelandherald/ViewArticle.aspx?id=3512&source=2



Carlos Castaño

[Judi Lynn]

1. Mass Grave Yields 14 Bodies In Colombia

Mass Grave Yields 14 Bodies In Colombia

September 1, 2006 11:00 p.m. EST

Yvonne Lee - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Bogota, Colombia (AHN) - Authorities believe a right-wing paramilitary militia is responsible for the deaths of 14 people whose bodies were unearthed from a grave in southwest Colombia.
Forensic scientists believe they may find more victims as they continue searching the area around the grave.

The search is part of an investigation into the militia, which has been accused of killing civilians.

The office of chief federal prosecutor Mario Iguaran says he visited the mass grave near La Hormiga, in Putumayo province.
(snip/...)

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004729799

[Judi Lynn]

2. From the Miami Herald:

COLOMBIA
Paramilitary leader suspected of killing brotherColombian authorities say paramilitary leader José Vicente Castaño could be guilty of fratricide.
BY STEVEN DUDLEY
[e-mail]



AP FILE
BROTHERS: Carlos Castaño Gil, left, was killed in 2004. His brother, Jose Vicente, is a suspect.

Blog | The Oppenheimer report on Latin America
BOGOTA - Colombia's attorney general's office announced on Thursday a lead suspect in the death and disappearance of the country's most infamous right-wing paramilitary leader, Carlos Castaño, in April 2004: Carlos' brother, José Vicente.

The announcement came after two more witnesses stepped forward in the case, indicating that José Vicente had sent his top lieutenant, Jesús Roldán, alias ''Whitey,'' with 20 paramilitary soldiers in a caravan to surround Carlos and kill him in cold blood.

'I saw `Whitey' shoot him twice,'' one of the witnesses told RCN radio and television, adding that Roldán later carried Carlos' body to José Vicente.
(snip)

Carlos, who had been indicted by the United States in 2002 on drug trafficking charges, had said he was ready to turn himself in to U.S. authorities and talk to them about the vast drug trafficking activities of his paramilitary colleagues, including those of his older brother José Vicente.

He disappeared shortly thereafter, leading to suspicions that he had been killed by his colleagues or slipped into U.S. custody.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/15355908.htm



AP FILE
INFAMOUS LEADER: Right-wing paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño Gil was indicted by the U.S. on drug charges in 2002.



AP

SUSPECT: Paramilitary leader Vicente Castaño, right, speaks with Jesus Ignacio Roldan, known as 'Mono de Leche,' meaning Milk Monkey in this July 14, 2006 file photo in Copacabana. Colombia's top prosecutor said that Carlos Castaño Gil may have been ordered killed by his brother, Vicente.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Horrors revisited in pursuit of peace

Posted on Thu, Aug. 24, 2006
COLOMBIA
Horrors revisited in pursuit of peace
As part of its peace process with right-wing paramilitaries, the Colombian government has to face the many victims.

BY STEVEN DUDLEY
[e-mail]



CARLOS VILLALON/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
DIFFICULT TASK: Benito Chacon is looking for buried bodies by the outskirts of La Gabarra, Colombia. Locals estimate there may be at least 5000 victims in this region alone.



LA GABARRA, Colombia - Colombia revisits horrors in pursuit of peace

In this village along the Venezuelan border, every house tells a story of violence.

Some are filled with widows and orphans. Others hold new dwellers who fled the violence and then returned to find their own homes burned or looted. Then there are the homes now empty but once used by right-wing paramilitaries whose violence forced two-thirds of this town to scramble for their lives.

La Gabarra is just one of many tales of horror that the Colombian government will have to sort through as it finalizes peace talks with paramilitary groups that killed thousands of suspected leftist guerrillas and supporters and left an untold number missing.

The peace process already has yielded some results -- the demobilization of more than 31,000 paramilitary fighters, and the promise that some of the paramilitary commanders will pay reparations to victims in the form of land and money. And this week, 14 paramilitary leaders were forced to accept prison while they await prosecutors' investigations and trials.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/15347637.htm