Ex-AUC chief links Uribe with paramilitaries in 'Convivir' formation
Monday, 05 December 2011 14:12
Tim Hinchliffe
The extradited commander-in-chief of the AUC, Salvatore Mancuso, testifies that his paramilitary organization formed the anti-guerrilla group "CONVIVIR" with the help of Colombia's ex-President Alvaro Uribe when he was governor of Antioquia.
Mancuso claimed that he met with the former government secretary of Antioquia under Uribe's governorship, Pedro Juan Moreno, as well as AUC founder Carlos Castaño to form the CONVIVIR.
"Moreno met with me and Carlos Castaño so that we could create the CONVIVIR in Uraba," a region in the north of Antioquia, the former AUC chief declared. "We created 12
there."
The CONVIVIR, whose creation was promoted by Uribe, were legalized by the Colombian government in 1994 in response to increased violence from guerrilla groups like the FARC and ELN. Because of their links to the illegal AUC and its atrocities, the Constitutional Court banned the self-defense groups in 1997.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/20889-ex-auc-commander-links-uribe-with-paramilitaries-in-convivir-formation.html
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http://newsbusters.org.nyud.net:8090/static/2008/05/2008-05-11-CBS-60M-Kroft.jpg http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/2008/05/13/image4091149g.jpg ![](http://image.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2007/01/17/SalvatoreMancuso.jpg)
http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/0bDn3kC7lr2qy/610x.jpg
Salvatore Mancuso
Salvatore Mancuso was interviewed by Steve Croft on CBS's 60 Minutes. The interview, and the show are linked in the article below: ~snip~
Kroft felt Mancuso, who was also convicted of smuggling 17 tons of cocaine into the U.S., would make a very credible witness:
KROFT: Has anyone come down here from the United States, from the US Justice Department, to talk to you about Dole, or to talk to you about Del Monte or any other companies?
MANCUSO: No one has come from the Department of Justice of the United States to talk to us. I am taking this opportunity to invite the Department of State and the Department of Justice so that they can come and so I can tell them all that they want to know.
KROFT: And you would name names?
MANCUSO: Certainly, I would do so.More:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2008/05/12/cbs-s-kroft-chiquita-banana-s-reputation-splattered-blood