Colombia: Former Senate President Sentenced for Synergy with Far-Right Paramilitary

Her court decision was condemnatory Colombia for former governor and former Senate president, as he was found guilty of colluding with far-right paramilitaries.

Luis Alfredo Ramos was found guilty of the crime of forming and gang for the purpose of supporting illegal armed organizations “by the Colombian Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia, CSJ), which has been investigating the case since 2013, according to a statement from the institution.

According to the CSJ, his imposed a sentence of seven years and eleven months imprisonment, Mr. Ramos had allied with far-right paramilitary leaders between 2001 and 2017 “in order to secure financial support and votes” as part of his campaigns for the Senate and for the position of Governor of the Prefecture of Antioch (northwest).

Mr. Ramos, 73, served as governor of Antioch from 2008 to 2011, speaker of the Senate from 2002 to 2003, and mayor of Medellin (the capital of Antioch). He is a key figure in the Colombian right and is thought to have had a close relationship with former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010).

In its decision, The CSJ noted that it had taken into account indisputable evidence that it had helped, in exchange for money, “ease police pressure on the Metro Bloc paramilitary organization operating in Medellin”..

He also received money and had direct contacts with brothers Vicente and Carlos Castagno, the founders of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) and some of the most feared paramilitary leaders that bloodied the country of the Andes.

Through Twitter, the former governor defended his innocence and assured that he was a “victim of false witnesses”, announcing that he would appeal. “My political career and my professional life of 40 years in the service of the country will not be tarnished by this arbitrary decision”, he stressed.

The former MP surrendered at the beginning of 2013, following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him on the orders of the CSJ, but was released in 2016.

Far-right paramilitary groups, which emerged in the 1980s to take action against far-left guerrillas, have committed heaps of crimes, massacres and atrocities. Their ties to the Colombian right and to the landlords continue to this day to trigger scenarios and war.

Following the 2016 peace agreement, many of the former paramilitaries resumed drug trafficking. They clash with other armed groups in remote, isolated areas of the country.

Dozens of Colombian politicians, including several former parliamentarians, were convicted by the judiciary in 2010 for their links to far-right paramilitaries.

Most paramilitary groups were disarmed and disbanded from 2003 to 2006 as part of a peace process promoted by former President Uribe. Many of their top leaders are still serving sentences in the United States after being convicted of drug trafficking to that country.

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