Investigation requested into Uribe family's alleged paramilitary ties

[Judi Lynn]

Investigation requested into Uribe family's alleged paramilitary ties
Friday, 05 August 2011 14:05
Matt Snyder

Colombia's Justice and Peace commission requested an investigation into ties between ex-President Alvaro Uribe and violent paramilitaries.

The commission wants to investigate ties between Uribe's sons and former paramilitary leader Jose Gelvez Albarracín, alias "Canoso", as well as allegations that paramilitaries assisted Uribe in his presidential campaign. The investigation would only serve to attest the truth of statements currently being made by Canoso and would not serve as a criminal investigation.

Canoso claimed that he relayed a message to Uribe when he was running his campaign in 2002. The former paramilitary also claimed that paramilitaries contributed $67,000 to the former president's campaign. Canoso's claim supports that of former paramilitaries "Alberto Guerrero" and "Pablo Sevillano" who earlier this year made similar claims.

The paramilitary said that he was personal friends with Uribe's sons Jeronimo and Tomas and that he was introduced to them through former Councilman Ignacio 'Nacho' Rodríguez, who was extradited to the U.S. on drug charges.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/18140-investigation-requested-into-uribes-paramilitary-ties.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Article written in 2008 regarding the paras (death squads) invading the voting areas at election:

This article was written in 2008, when I discovered and posted it here:


"Mark Him on the Ballot - The One Wearing Glasses"
By Constanza Vieira

~snip~
The paramilitaries did not kill people to pressure the rest to vote for Uribe, as they did in other communities, but merely used "threats," said L.

"If you don't vote for Uribe, you know what the consequences will be," the villagers were told ominously.

And on election day, they breathed down voters’ necks: "This is the candidate you’re going to vote for. You’re going to put your mark by this one. The one wearing glasses," they would say, pointing to Uribe’s photo on the ballot, L. recalled.

"One (of the paramilitaries) was on the precinct board, another one was standing next to the table, and another was a little way off, all of them watching to see if you voted for Uribe," she added, referring to the less than subtle way that the death squads commanded by drug traffickers and allies of the army ensured that L.’s village voted en masse for the current president in both elections.

More:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42290

[Peace Patriot]

2. Councilman 'Nacho' Rodriguez is probably the key to this story.

"The paramilitary said that he was personal friends with Uribe's sons Jeronimo and Tomas and that he was introduced to them through former Councilman Ignacio 'Nacho' Rodríguez, who was extradited to the U.S. on drug charges." --from the OP

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This should read "extradited to the U.S. on mere drug charges," and subsequently "buried" in the U.S. federal prison system (complete sealing of the case), out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors and over their objections.

These sudden, midnight extraditions of death squad witnesses to the U.S. were arranged by Alvaro Uribe himself and the Bushwhacks' U.S. ambassador, William Brownfield, whom the Obama administration left in place in Colombia apparently to accomplish several things having to do with cleaning the Bush Junta's trail in Colombia. One of Brownfield's other accomplishments was the Uribe-Brownfield secretly negotiated and secretly signed U.S./Colombia military agreement which granted "total diplomatic immunity" to all U.S. military personnel and all U.S. military 'contractors' in Colombia.

What the blackmail situation was we can't know for sure. Was Brownfield getting late-in-the-day "total diplomatic immunity" for U.S. personnel in exchange for getting key Uribe witnesses out of Colombia*? Was Uribe getting this extraordinary U.S. interference with Colombia's justice system in exchange for keeping his mouth shut about how the U.S. helped him commit crimes? Or was it not blackmail exactly but rather the mutually understood workings of a criminal organization, with the Bush Junta as the crime bosses and Uribe their local operative in Colombia?

Truly horrible crimes were committed in Colombia with Uribe in charge--the murders of thousands of trade unionists and other advocates of the poor, the murders of youngsters by the Colombian military, which dressed up the dead bodies as FARC guerrillas to up the military's "body count," the brutal removal of five million peasant farmers from their lands, and more. There were opportunities for "turkey shoots" by U.S. personnel, for testing out of Pentagon/USAID "pacification" programs and its new high tech drone aircraft and spying capabilities, and other intersections of U.S. (Bush junta)/Uribe interest and policy. Indeed, early this year the U.S. State Department 'fined' Blackwater for "unauthorized" "trainings" of "foreign persons" IN COLOMBIA "for use in Iraq and Afghanistan"--probably a 'tip of the iceberg' indicator of U.S. complicity.

So now, here we have just one of many cases against Uribe, with an important "dot," in the connection of dots in this case, removed--the person ('Nacho' Rodriguez) who connected these several paramilitaries to Uribe through his sons). Removed by the U.S. government and Uribe.

Colombia's Justice and Peace commission was the means that Uribe used to conduct a fake demobilization of rightwing paramilitaries (the AUC) in Colombia. They quickly re-formed as a deeper and more elusive death squad, death threat, bribery and drug trafficking network (apparently identified by the name "Black Eagles"). I don't know much about this commission, then or now. Perhaps they or some of them are trying to do their jobs honestly. They don't have the power to prosecute, and therefore they and also the legislative committee investigating Uribe could be used to spoil actual prosecution in some way or as 'kabuki' theatre (a mere 'show' of accountability). It's something I worry about in non-prosecutorial, immunity-type investigations. The Justice and Peace commission is the key player in a process of providing immunity to the paramilitaries in exchange for their telling the truth. It may be that this commission is working more reliably with Uribe out of power. But it should be noted that FOUR members of the legislative committee investigating Uribe have resigned, two of them admittedly because they received death threats (and the other two probably for the same reason). A criminal organization--threatening people and murdering people--is still operating in Colombia and one of its purposes is to protect Uribe. We need to keep this, as well as U.S. collusion, in mind, as revelations emerge from the many investigations of Uribe and his network. So many revelations; so few prosecutions--and Uribe is running around free, protected, even coddled, by the U.S. government.

His stated ambition is to return to power in Colombia. I don't think the Obama administration wants him to, but they may not have anything to say about it after next year. Uribe just thumbs his nose at all this and doesn't seem worried, as he comments on it from his Twitter account ("they're all lying!," "they're all commies and terrorists!"). He is smug, arrogant and defiant and may know something we don't--that the Bushwhacks are soon going to be back in the White House. (Believe me, Diebold/ES&S can easily--EASILY-do it and we will have no recourse.) As on so many issues, the Obama administration seems highly restricted--fettered, bound, beholden (?) (deals they made?)--in what they can do. They shouldn't be protecting/coddling this criminal, but they are. It's probably all of a piece with their protection of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, et al--all above the law and immune to prosecution. Uribe may be on a lesser rung as a "made man" and is certainly being investigated in Colombia, with very serious investigations undertaken by Colombian prosecutors--who seem to be a brave lot--that could result in Uribe being convicted of serious crimes and an Interpol warrant out against him if he flees. It is at that point that he may be counting on more than protection and coddling from the U.S.; he may be counting on the U.S. restoring him to power.

When we look at the total scumbags who have taken over the U.S. Congress, including the Miami mafia contingent, is there any doubt that they would re-install Murder, Inc. to run Colombia if and when they are given back control of the executive branch? That is the least of what they might do. The Miami mafia contingent met before this congress was even seated--back in Dec '10--and basically declared war on Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua to topple their leftist governments. (Venezuela and Ecuador both border Colombia and have lots of oil. Uribe was part of a Rumsfeld plan to instigate a war with them back in 2008.)

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*(The chief spying witness against Uribe--his spy chief Maria Hurtado--was also gotten out of Colombia and given instant asylum in the U.S. client state of Panama--something that probably couldn't have happened without U.S. complicity. The Colombian prosecutors have now issued an Interpol warrant for her arrest, and have arrested Uribe's second in command of his spying network in Colombia. The illegal spying network was likely used to create murder lists and death threat lists, and is known to have been used to spy on prosecutors and judges, probably mostly to monitor their investigations and anticipate their moves, and to intimidate them with death threats and other uses of illegal spying, such as blackmail. The illegal spying probably contains a link to the U.S. (Bush Junta). This may be how/why Ambassador Brownfield moved quickly to remove the death squad witnesses from Colombia--to get them out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors--that is, illegal, illicit spying intel on prosecutors' knowledge, strategies and intentions with regard to witnesses like 'Nacho" Rodriguez was used to make those decisions. Uribe had to be protected because of what he knows about the U.S. Yet another crime--spying--was committed to protect him, and whoever may have been involved in that (U.S. military personnel? U.S. "contractors?) Uribe/Brownfield tried to encompass with "total diplomatic immunity" in the secret military agreement. The agreement was declared unconstitutional by the Colombian supreme court, but it still speaks to U.S./Uribe intentions.) (Why did the U.S. military and its 'contractors' suddenly need formal, signed immunity more than a decade into the U.S. military presence in Colombia?)

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Some informational links:

"Truth Behind Bars: Thirty former members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) are currently in U.S. custody in Florida, New York, Texas, Virginia and DC. Extradited to face drug trafficking charges in the United States, the defendants include powerful warlords who massacred, forcibly disappeared, tortured, and raped countless innocent civilians in Colombia. Before the extraditions, all of the extradited AUC leaders were participants in Colombia's Justice and Peace process, and had begun to disclose details about their crimes and the identities of their accomplices. Since their extraditions, the paramilitary leaders’ cooperation with Colombian investigators has effectively ceased. The IHRLC has evaluated the consequences of the extradition of AUC leaders and its impact on U.S. interests in promoting the rule of law and human rights in Colombia. This event invites the members of the IHRLC to present and discuss their findings with the Washington, DC community."

http://www.wola.org/event/truth_behind_bars_colombian_paramilitary_leaders_in_us_custody

(the report and updates)

(very important update) http://inthenews.berkeleylawblogs.org/category/roxanna-altholz/
(Sept. '10--Brownfield and U.S. have broken all promises as to access to the death squad witnesses.)

("Truth Behind Bars") www.law.berkeley.edu/files/IHRLC/Truthbehindbars.pdf

(list of relevant news/links) http://www.law.berkeley.edu/searchResults.html?cx=009897613207788849675%3Aziggeafa8q8&cof=FORID%3A11&q=%22truth+behind+bars%22

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/ihrlc.htm

[Judi Lynn]

3. ALL the dots are vanishing, have vanished into the U.S. judicial system, absolutely.

Makes it almost impossible to make justice possible. They've got it all figured out, apparently.

Your links have the information which can lead one to spending a great deal of time researching. It's great to see people are focusing in this grotesque management of concealing the truth about right-wing atrocities.

Found more on the subject at hand:

Vanished From Justice: Colombia’s Paramilitary Leaders
September 10, 2010 | Chisun Lee, Oriana Zill de Granados and Jennifer Janisch

Women, War & Peace producers Jennifer Janisch and Oriana Zill de Granados are investigating U.S. drug cases against the leaders of Colombia’s paramilitary organization, many of which have disappeared from the public record in recent months. These articles are part of a series of Colombia reports coming in the next month. Janisch and Zill joined forces with ProPublica reporter Chisun Lee to expose the high degree of secrecy surrounding the U.S. federal drug cases against Colombia’s paramilitary leaders. The collaboration appears in the Washington Post.

Since 2006, more than a dozen of Colombia’s most notorious paramilitary leaders have been extradited to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges in federal district court in Washington. The extraditions stunned Colombians, who had hoped testimony from the men, given as part of a national amnesty program, would help expose the truth about two decades of vicious murders, assaults and kidnappings.

In videotaped confessions in Columbia, one had taken responsibility for more than 450 slayings. But outrage over the extraditions reached a boiling point earlier this year, when U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton blocked public access to seven of the paramilitary leaders’ cases, erasing virtually every trace of their existence.

~snip~
Some judges not only block public access, but also remove file numbers and all other signs of a case from the record. In the D.C. district, there is no uniform procedure for sealing, leaving individual judges to decide how much to disclose, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth said. The cases against the Colombian paramilitaries show the stakes of a transparency debate that might otherwise seem academic.

More:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/features/washington-post-headline/