Former mayors consort with the FARC

Colombian authorities denounce two former mayors after evidence emerged that they had been fraternizing with the FARC, reported newspaper El Tiempo on Friday.

According to El Tiempo, in 2006, the anti-kidnapping unit intercepted telephone conversations which allegedly confirmed the involvement of ex-mayors Julio Correcha and Enrique Bahamon in sinister negotiations with the Colombian guerrilla group FARC.

For his connections with the Anti Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), Correcha has been sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of extortion and incitement to rebellion.

Exerpts from the telephone converstations which were published in El Tiempo allegedly include a guerrilla member stating “I need to receive an order … the one to deliver it will be Correcha, mayor of Purification”.

One of the blackmail victims claimed that a FARC member ordered the sum of 6 million pesos to he handed over to Correcha who would then pass it on to the guerrillas.

With regard to Bahamon, the former mayor is currently being investigated for allegations of involvement in the kidnapping of Jorge Angarito, a colombian citizen who died in captivity.