A demobilized paramilitary leader testified Tuesday that former deputy director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS was involved in the abduction of senator Piedad Cordoba and the murder of journalist and comedian Jaime Garzon, both in 1999.
Jorge Ivan “El Iguano” Laverde Zapata, former commander of the AUC’s Catatumbo bloc, said deputy director Jose Miguel Narvaez instigated AUC leader Carlos Castaño Gil to murder Garzón and ordered the kidnapping of senator Piedad Cordoba.
The demobilized paramilitary testified that Narvaez regularly visited AUC camps in Cordoba and Bolivar to talk with paramilitaries.
The former warlord testified before the prosecutor as part of Colombia’s Justice and Peace law. Paramilitary leaders get a reduced sentence in exchange for cooperation with justice and compensation for their victims.