Colombia’s “status quo” vs democracy and peace
FARC reintegration chief assassinated in south Colombia
“Corruption cost Colombia’s peace process $119M”
Colombia suggests top guerrilla leader killed in Venezuela
Renowned economist designated Colombia’s new finance minister
Truth Commission: Colombia needs radical policy changes to...
Colombia’s controversial moment of truth
At least 49 dead after ‘prison break attempt’...
Colombia’s incoming government begins “total peace” offensive
Colombia investigating bullfighting tragedy
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
News

Colombian armed forces collaborated with neo-paramilitaries: WikiLeaks

by Edward Fox March 4, 2011

Colombia news - Paramilitaries and kids

Neo-paramilitary groups with former armed forces personnel as members were able to infiltrate the state by exploiting their military connections, according to a WikiLeaks cable.

The cable, dated February 13, 2007, and released by El Espectador on Friday, relays how the then-director of the Rural Security Police, General Jesus Gomez Mendez, told a U.S. official that the three main difficulties in dismantling these organizations were topography, money and this state infiltration.

Infiltration, Gomez said, was a particularly serious problem because it meant that the groups could receive information from their contacts in the armed forces about planned operations against them, allowing them to flee.

An anonymous Intel officer said that this network of military collaborators with the gangs stemmed from the fact that many members of these groups were former military personnel who could use their relationships with former colleagues.

The official highlighted events in the Uraba region, in the north of the Antioquia department, where he estimated that nearly 250 of approximately 330 to 340 new members of criminal groups had prior military experience.

These networks of illicit cooperation were apparently complicated further by allegations from ex-AUC leaders that the government had agreed with them to incorporate the paramilitaries’ informant networks with the military’s.

Although DAS and government officials denied this, the anonymous Intel officer confirmed that it was indeed the case and that he had personally incorporated former members of ex-AUC leader alias “El Aleman’s” bloc into his network with the government’s consent. He added that they were providing the government with valuable information on new criminal groups and their operations.

The cable adds significant weight to long-standing allegations of the military’s ties to paramilitary, and now neo-paramilitary, organizations, which are known as “BACRIM,” or emerging criminal groups by the Colombian goverment in an effort to downplay the groups’ ties to the paramilitaries.

It further highlights issues with the government’s interpretation of the threat posed by these new criminal groups, which emerged from the flawed demobilization of the paramilitaries, choosing to see them more as an issue of law enforcement than a problem of national security due to their decentralized structure.

In a report last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned this attitude, arguing that the government had not done enough to combat the rise of these organizations and was too complacent in rooting out corrupt officials who continue to collaborate with the organizations.

Last week, the U.N. added its concerns, stating that links between government officials and neo-paramilitaries are still present and provide the groups with the ability to “corrupt and infiltrate the state.”

In a separate cable released last month, government failures during the demobilization of the AUC were said to have contributed to the rise of neo-paramilitaries.

Friday’s cable reaffirms this, with the U.S. official acknowledging that most of the neo-paramilitary organizations were led at the time by former mid-level AUC commanders and that just under 20% of the group was made up of “demobilized” paramilitaries.

AUCBaCrimcorruptionWikileaks

Trending

  • At least 49 dead after ‘prison break attempt’ in west Colombia

  • Truth Commission: Colombia needs radical policy changes to end conflict

  • Renowned economist designated Colombia’s new finance minister

Related articles

  • “Corruption cost Colombia’s peace process $119M”

  • Colombia’s first lady, slush funds and organized crime

  • The alleged corruption of runner-up in Colombia’s election race

  • RSS

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top