The Colombian army’s top general, accused in a Washington Post article Wednesday of having links to paramilitaries, is an “honest soldier of the motherland” president Álvaro Uribe said Friday.
“General (Mario) Montoya had to discharge (from the army) a person many years ago. That person gave a testimony that does not correspond with reality,” said Uribe, who has long been a staunch defender of the general, reported Spanish news agency EFE.
Uribe, who is currently in Washington lobbying for the passage of the U.S.-Colombian free trade agreement, will meet with the Washington Post editorial board to which he says he will give “a little paper” about the Montoya matter.
Wednesday’s Washington Post article revealed that the testimony of a demobilized paramilitary, once a soldier, against Montoya had led the Colombian attorney general to open a preliminary investigation. Montoya denid the claims.