A former governor and two ex-congressmen have been jailed for seven and a half years for participating in the Ralito Pact, a 2001 agreement between paramilitaries and politicians.
Colombia’s Supreme Court handed down the sentence to Jesus Maria Lopez, the ex-governor of Cordoba, and ex-congressmen Jose Maria Imbeth and Jose Luis Feris for conspiring to mutually benefit with paramilitaries led by Salvatore Mancuso.
The three were part of a group of 18 politicians who met with paramilitaries bosses in Ralito, Cordoba, to sign a secret pact calling for the “refounding of the country” — in other words, securing political power for those involved.
The court’s decision noted that Lopez, Imbeth and Feris “consciously” backed the project, created by the paramilitaries, because they particularly needed support in Congress.
The politicians are the last of dozens of national politicians who have been sentenced for having used the intimidation of paramilitary death squads for political gain.