Colombia: Land Stolen by Paramilitaries Returned to Real Owners

Colombia: Land Stolen by Paramilitaries Returned to Real Owners
Published 27 November 2015

A Colombian court has ruled in favor of small land owners ordering that 23 plots of family land that were seized by paramilitaries be returned to their rightful owners.

The land has been under control of paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso Gomez, who was once a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or the AUC — one of the biggest and more violent paramilitary groups in Colombia.

According to media reports, Mancuso and other paramilitary groups forced the families to sell their land at way below market prices under the selling conditions that, “if you don't sell your land, you sell your life.”

A court in Monteria Thursday ruled that land Mancuso stole from 23 families in the department of Cordoba finally be returned. The land restitution will return some 432 hectares of land to more than 100 people.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Colombia-Land-Stolen-by-Paramilitaries-Returned-to-Real-Owners-20151127-0017.html