Journalist, ex-governor accuse each other of paramilitary ties on radio

A prominent Colombian columnist and an ex-governor accused one another live on the radio of connections with paramilitary groups, reported Colombian media Thursday.

The columnist for El Tiempo, Salud Hernandez, and the ex-governor of the department of Cesar became engaged in a debate on a local radio station in the northeast of the country, where they began to hurl accusations at one another.

Hernandez had been invited to the radio station to discuss issues relating to the upcoming elections, where she began making comments about the former governor and his paramilitary connections. The ex-governor, Hernando Molina, had been given a seven year sentence in 2010 for his alleged links to extradited paramilitary leader Rodrigo Tovar Tupo, alias “Jorge 40”.

The columnist said on the radio show she thought the most surprising thing about the upcoming elections was that even though Molina had been charged and sentenced for parapolitics, he was still seeking to wield political influence by supporting political candidate Arturo Calderon.

Upon hearing the columnist’s accusations, the former governor came into the radio station to refute the claims against him. He in turn accused Hernandez of having ties with the killed paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño.

Another prominent columnist was accused of having links to the late Carlos Castaño in August.

The very public confrontation was aired on radio in the department of Cesar from a radio station in the department’s capital of Valledupar.

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