Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office opened a preliminary
investigation against former Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt de la Vega
for his alleged ties to paramilitaries.
Jailed paramilitary Jhon Jairo Hernandez Sanchez, alias ‘Centella’, claimed that Pretelt de la Vega met with former and extradited paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso and had connections to the coastal block of the self-defense groups, El Espectador reported.
Pretelt de la Vega and Salvatore Mancuso met in Italy in 2004 to discuss the presidential re-election among other things, “Centella” said in his testimony.
Pretelt de la Vega, current ambassador to Rome, is also suspected of taking part in the bribery of Congressmen to vote in favor of the re-election proposal of President Alvaro Uribe in 2006 after having been promised political favors by the government officials.