Assassination of emerald baron sparks fear of new ‘green wars’
A prominent emerald magnate was assassinated on Saturday, sparking concerns over the possibility...
Tag: Victor Carranza
Colombia’s ’emerald czar’ Victor Carranza dies
Emerald czar Victor Carranza died on Thursday in Bogota from complications resulting from cancer; his death has created a power vacuum in the highly profitable emerald industry. Carranza died at age 78 due to complications...
Colombian emerald magnates ask govt to help avert bloodshed
As the rapidly declining health of Colombia’s emerald czar forebodes potentially violent territorial disputes, other magnates along with the czar requested an “active presence” from the government to prevent...
Colombia emerald czar linked to AUC massacre: Declassified US cables
A notorious Colombian emerald dealer is accused of perpetrating a massacre of 12 people in southern Colombia in 1997, local media reported on Thursday. According to a declassified United States government report, Victor...
Colombia emerald czar ‘big time narco’: Declassified US cables
Infamous businessman Victor Carranza, known in Colombia as the “Emerald Czar” because of his control over the country’s emerald exploitation, was a “big time narco” and paramilitary leader,...
Colombia’s ’emerald tsar’ warns his death could spark war
Colombia’s “emerald tsar” Victor Carranza has told news network Al Jazeera that a war over the industry could erupt should he die. Carranza, one of the world’s top traders in the precious stones who...
Uribe officials implicated in false demobilization scandal
Imprisoned AUC paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso accused former Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo of involvement in the false demobilization of the AUC and a nonexistent FARC front. In his first public interview in...
Colombian ’emerald czar’ diagnosed with cancer
Colombia’s notorious “emerald czar” Victor Carranza has two types of cancer, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) revealed Thursday. “The 76-year-old man has prostate cancer four years in...
Colombian ’emerald czar’ under new investigation for paramilitary funding
Colombia’s Prosecutor General opened a preliminary investigation in to “emerald czar’ Victor Carranza’s alleged financing of paramilitaries, reported local media Friday. Carranza, Colombia’s most...
Ex-AUC chief links Uribe with paramilitaries in ‘Convivir’ formation
The extradited commander-in-chief of the AUC, Salvatore Mancuso, testifies that his paramilitary organization formed the anti-guerrilla group “CONVIVIR” with the help of Colombia’s ex-President Alvaro Uribe...
‘El Aleman’: Emerald czar backed paramilitaries
Former paramilitary leader Freddy Rendon Herrera, alias “El Aleman,” told a Bogota court that emerald czar Victor Carranza gave important economic support to the paramilitaries. El Tiempo reported Thursday that El...
‘Emerald czar funded paramilitaries’
An ex-paramilitary fighter has claimed that part of his former group’s funding came from the looting of emerald mines in the department of Boyaca with the full knowledge of the mine’s owner, “emerald...
