The director of Colombia’s ranchers federation allegedly teamed up with designated terrorists to steal land and coerce the Supreme Court.
Recent testimonies indicate that Fedegan president Jose Felix Lafaurie was directly involved in a massive land heist that left tens of thousands of victims since 1997.
Jose Felix Lafaurie (Screenshot: Noticias Caracol)
The ranchers’ chief additionally sought support of paramilitary organization AUC to secure the 2005 election of former chief prosecutor Mario Iguaran, according to multiple witnesses.
Lafaurie claimed that the allegations are part of a leftist conspiracy that seeks to frustrate the political ambitions of his wife, Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal.
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Lafaurie and the land thieves
Fedegan and its far-right director hit the headlines again after the testimony of convicted land thief Benito Osorio before war crimes tribunal JEP was leaked last week.
In his testimony, the former president of the Cordoba Ranchers’ Fund said that Lafaurie was supported by “Jorge 40” and other former AUC commanders.
You can’t make any kind of distinction between Fedegan and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.
Benito Osorio
The Fedegan president additionally knew about a racket to legalize a land heist in the area around Tulapas, Osorio told the court.
The paramilitaries displaced some 4,000 farmers from Tulapas in the 1990’s in order to control the region that was of strategic importance for their arms and drug trafficking activities.
The AUC commanders and their allies later came up with a racket that would allow them to legally own or flip the lands that were abandoned by their victims.
Osorio was a former henchman of demobilized AUC chief Salvatore Mancuso, and involved in the entire process.
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Lafaurie and the Supreme Court
Lafaurie sought Mancuso’s help to secure Iguaran’s election in July 2005, Osorio told the court.
To support this claim, the land thief showed the court a print of an alleged email that contained magistrates’ contact information.
Osorio said that he was supposed to forward the email to the AUC boss.
Mancuso confirmed his former front man’s claim in an open letter to media.
I must corroborate the statements regarding the election of former prosecutor Mario Iguaran and the role of Jose Felix Lafaurie. Everything was true.
Salvatore Mancuso
Lafaurie denied the latest allegations and claimed that Osorio’s testimony was part of a leftist conspiracy that sought to frustrate his wife’s political ambitions.