Colombian authorities are embarrassed after videos emerged of the hero’s welcome given to the body of a drug trafficking warlord who was killed on Friday.
Local media reported how hundreds of people in Carepa, a small town in Antioquia, had taken to the streets for a festive goodbye to “Inglaterra,” the second-in-command of paramilitary group AGC.
The group controls much of Colombia’s drug trade and Uraba, the abandoned region around Carepa.
Inglaterra’s army had as many as 500 men and ran the major drug trafficking routes in his home region. He was killed in east Colombia while allegedly attending a party.
Accompanied by dozens of motorcycles and hundreds of onlookers, the regional warlord’s remains were taken to his family’s home in a township of the remote municipality on Sunday.
The apparent honor given to the body of one of Colombia’s most wanted has revived a debate from before 1982 when Pablo Escobar entered congress through a popular vote. Some still honor the slain drug lord 35 years after his death.
Authorities reject popular support
Authorities were quick to reject the public support for the AGC commander in Uraba.
The mayor of the neglected town stressed on Caracol Radio that “Inglaterra” was a criminal, not a legitimate folk hero.
Carepa Mayor Ovidio de Jesus Ardila
Inglaterra joined paramilitary group AUC before 2000, and joined “Don Mario” and “Otoniel” in the AGC in 2006. Recruiting new fighters, the AUC dissidents retook abandoned rackets throughout Colombia.
The slain AGC commander allegedly paid for multiple cop killings in the region in 2016.
Uraba Police commander Luis Eduardo Soler
Caracol Radio
Locals divided
Locals were divided about Carepa’s apparent sympathy for the senior warlord, who controlled much of neglected region for a decade.
Jaime Ramirez via Facebook
Jorge Sanchez via Facebook
Sandra Londoño via Facebook
The body of the slain war lord was laid to rest on Monday. The government and the AGC said in September there have been talks about a surrender of the illegal armed group.