House Representative Ivan Cepeda asked Colombian authorities Friday to investigate former Vice President Francisco Santos for his alleged ties to paramilitaries.
In a letter Cepeda requested the Prosecutor General’s Office take into account the statements of extradited former AUC leader Salvatore Mancuso, who claims Santos held meetings with him and late AUC commander Carlos Castaño when he served as editor of Colombian newspaper El Tiempo in the late 1990s.
“I requested that an investigation be conducted due to the serious statements of former paramilitary chief Salvatore Mancuso in an interview with Caracol Radio, in which he states that he met with former Vice President of the Republic, Francisco Santos Calderon, who expressed interest in the paramilitary and even proposed the creation of a self-defense bloc in Bogota,” said Cepeda.
“An investigation should be started as soon as possible to clarify the veracity of these claims and in the defense of the victims of heinous crimes committed by these paramilitary structures in the recent history of our country,” he added.
The former vice president has been investigated over his alleged involvement with paramilitary groups before, but Colombia’s Supreme Court suspended the investigation when the Santos and several El Tiempo employees claimed his meetings with AUC leaders were for journalistic purposes.
Santos served as Vice President in Alvaro Uribe’s administration between 2002 and 2010.