Colombian official denounces murder plot

The murders of several paramilitary fighters is part of a conspiracy to silence testimony about the right-wing militias' ties to Colombia's political elite, the interior minister said on Dec. 29. Carlos Holguin said the Dec. 27 murder of Jaime Andres Angarita–the right-hand man of warlord Salvatore Mancuso–"wasn't an isolated case." "It's part of a plot to eliminate specific people within the paramilitary structure," Holguin told Caracol Radio. Angarita was shot and killed by two gunmen on a motorcycle while dining at a restaurant in the western city of Medellin. Holguin noted there had been similar killings of at least four other fighters who were expected to testify before a special tribunal about alleged government-militia ties. The tribunals grew out of a 2003 peace deal that demobilized 31,000 fighters. All of those killed were close to 59 paramilitary commanders being held at a maximum security prison near Medellin, Holguin said. Uribe, who has condemned the murders, has been battered by revelations that several close allies–including the former head of his intelligence agency–were under investigation for financing, arming or plotting murders with right-wing death squads. Three congressmen have been arrested as part of the widening scandal. Mancuso and other paramilitary leaders have reported receiving numerous threats while behind bars and the government has offered to protect their family members to assure the peace process moves forward. The far-right militias were first formed two decades ago by wealthy ranchers to protect their land holdings from raids by leftist rebels trying to overthrow the government for nearly a half-century. They quickly evolved into powerful criminal gangs that controlled vast parts of the country and are blamed for civilian massacres and other abuses.