Colombia Probes Uribe’s Brother for Links to Militias

[Judi Lynn]

Caracas,
Friday
November 5,2010
Colombia Probes Uribe’s Brother for Links to Militias

BOGOTA – The Colombian Attorney General’s Office has opened a preliminary investigation into a retired police major’s allegations linking former President Alvaro Uribe’s brother to a paramilitary group.

Daniel Pardo, attorney for the victims of a paramilitary group known as “The 12 Apostles,” told Noticias Uno television that the AG’s office was examining the accusations against Santiago Uribe.

Those accusations were made in May by retired Maj. Juan Carlos Meneses, who fled Colombia out of fear for his life, in an interview with The Washington Post.

The major said Santiago Uribe, younger brother of the former head of state, headed a paramilitary group in the 1990s in the northwestern town of Yarumal, where Meneses was chief of police.

More:
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=375414&CategoryId=12393

[Judi Lynn]

1. More from the article:

Those accusations were made in May by retired Maj. Juan Carlos Meneses, who fled Colombia out of fear for his life, in an interview with The Washington Post.

The major said Santiago Uribe, younger brother of the former head of state, headed a paramilitary group in the 1990s in the northwestern town of Yarumal, where Meneses was chief of police.

Meneses, who admitted to facilitating the activities of The 12 Apostles, said the paramilitaries killed small-time criminals, sympathizers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla organization and others they regarded as subversives.

The retired major, who also said Santiago Uribe told him that his brother, Alvaro, then a senator, was aware of those activities, acknowledged in the interview that he received payoffs for ensuring that the police did not interfere with the paramilitary group’s activities.

http://www.patriagrande.com.ve.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/SantiagoUribe.jpg

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/2010/05/santiago_uribe2.jpg

Santiago Uribe