Uribe's brother denies narco-trafficking links

Uribe's brother denies narco-trafficking links
Friday, 04 February 2011 09:47
Tom Heyden

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/2011/02/santiago_uribe_velez.jpg

The brother of former President Alvaro Uribe has denied the claims of an ex-paramilitary that he was involved in drug-trafficking, W Radio reported Friday.

Santiago Uribe was accused by Juan Carlos Sierra, alias "El Tuso," of having links with the drug-trafficking Gallon Henao brothers. The brothers were allegedly involved in the murder of Colombian soccer player Andres Escober after the 1994 World Cup.

Uribe, however, has rejected the suggestion that he even knows "El Tuso."

"I have no relationship (with him) ... have not had, nor will have drug-related business relations," he told W Radio.

"I have (had) 53 years of clean living, of working, my father taught us to work, nobody can say that I have had any relationship with narco-traffickers of any type," he added to La Fm.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/14116-uribes-brother-denies-narco-trafficking-links.htmls

http://www.healthyfellow.com.nyud.net:8090/images/2009/laughter.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com.nyud.net:8090/

He was one of the narcos extradited to the U.S., believe it was last year.

To show the uribe narco connections:

Alvaro and Santiago's father was killed by the FARC. That has been published all over, including wiki. But the reports do not say WHY. The reason among Colombians was that a cocine drug deal between uribe senor and the FARC went bad. So the father was shot, and Santiago Uribe was reportedly wounded but he escaped by fleeing into the jungle. Pablo Escobar dispatched his personal helicopter to take the father's body back to Medellin.

That was about the time that then Senator Alvaro Uribe was collaborating with Escobar in shipping cocaine to the U.S. (You will recall the later DEA report on Alvaro Uribe, No. 82 on the list.)

Another relative, Mario Uribe, first cousin to Alvaro and Santiago, is in jail in Colombia. His wife is none other than the sister of EL Tuso.


Below is the statement that retired police major Meneses made a few months ago to a Colombian court about Santiago Uribe. (Sorry, in Spanish but google translation should give you an idea. It speaks of Santiago Uribe's "social cleansing" paramilitary group (Remember the 12 Apostles?).


“En 1993, estando yo con el grado de teniente, me nombran comandante del Distrito Policial 7 de Antioquia con asiento en Yarumal. ¿Cómo llego yo a Yarumal? Yo siempre he sido una persona comprometida con la institución, muy de combatir a la guerrilla. En esa época Yarumal era muy peligroso, estaba asedidada por la guerrilla. A los coroneles les daba miedo. entonces los comandantes me mandan a mí. Yo recibo el mando del entonces capitán, hoy coronel retirado Benavídez. El me recibe y me dice ‘vea, Meneses, aquí hay una situación muy especial, acá hay un grupo de personas que hace limpieza, o sea limpieza social, o sea desaparecer a las personas que se identifican como guerrilleros, como ladrones, como secuestradores, extorsionadores, o sólo expendedores de vicio, o viciosos. Vea, usted lo único que tiene que hacer es cuando ese grupo vaya a hacer un trabajo usted tiene que colaborarles’. “Le pregunto ‘cómo es esto, capitán’, y me contesta: ‘vea, el grupo tiene un jefe que se llama Santiago Uribe Vélez, que es el hermano del (entonces) senador Alvaro Uribe. El es un ganadero de la región que tiene la hacienda cerca de Yarumal, la hacienda La Carolina. El es el jefe de este grupo paramilitar.’ El capitán, pues, me cuenta la historia: ‘Yo les he colaborado, lo que hago es que cada vez que ese grupo va a cometer un asesinato lo que tiene que hacer es que la policía no reaccione, que usted los tenga guardados, ocupados, para que no vayan a capturar a los que cometen estos asesinatos, y ésta es la forma de colaborarle a Santiago’. Entonces él me relaciona con Santiago Uribe Vélez. El me presenta (y Santiago me dice): ‘mucho gusto, teniente, bienvenido a Yarumal, yo tengo este grupo que va a colaborar muchísimo con usted, además de que yo necesito que usted colabore con ellos, ellos le van a dar mucha información y liberar la zona cuando usted lo necesite’

Here's the Google translation...

"In 1993, when I was with the rank of lieutenant commander named me
Police District 7, based in Yarumal Antioquia. How
I'm off to Yarumal? I've always been a person committed to
the institution, much to combat the guerrillas. At that time Yarumal
was very dangerous, was asedidada by the guerrillas. At
colonels were afraid. commanders then send me to me.
I get the command of then Captain, now retired colonel
Benavidez. Get at me and says' see, Meneses, here is a
very special situation, here are a group of people who make
cleaning, or social cleansing, or people disappear
identified as guerrillas, and thieves, as
kidnappers, extortionists, or retailers only vice, or
vicious. See you all you need to do is when that
group is going to do a job you have to collaborate. " "Le
ask 'how is this, captain, and he answers:' See, the group
has a boss named Santiago Uribe Velez, who is the brother
(then) Senator Alvaro Uribe. He is a farmer in the region
who has the farm near Yarumal, the Hacienda La Carolina. The (?)
is the head of the paramilitary group. "The captain then tells me
history: 'I would have worked, what I do is that whenever
this group will commit a murder you have to make is that
Police did not react, you have them stored, held for
will not capture those who commit these murders, and this
is the way to work at Santiago. " Then he related to me
Santiago Uribe Vélez. He introduced me (and James I said): 'much
taste, Lieutenant, welcome to Yarumal, I have this group to be
work a lot with you, besides that I need you
collaborate with them, they are going to give much information and free
the area when you need"
--Google (my emphasis)

I get the gist of this. Correct me if I'm wrong. The police captain was saying that Alvaro Uribe's brother, Santiago, was running a rightwing paramilitary death squad in Antioquia and 'disappearing' innocent, honest people (social cleansing) with the police collaborating and writing off these murders as the murders of guerrillas or criminals. This police captain, when he was appointed to the department, was told that this is how it goes in Antioquia--he must collaborate with the Uribe death squad.

Is this the origin of the "false positives" practice in the military, I wonder? The gangster culture of the Uribes infected the military when Alvaro became president? And, or course, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld wouldn't care and no doubt delighted in it. (The current president of Colombia, though, was Alvaro's defense minister for several years. How did Santos keep his hands clean? Or did he? He surely knew.)

I recognize the name Antioquia--the region--from a letter by a Jesuit priest which he sent to Georgetown (a Jesuit university) (George Tenet is an alumnus) strongly objecting to their hiring Alvaro Uribe for a cushy job giving a few lectures on "international law." (gawd) He said that Alvaro has a long history of death squad murders to answer for (in Antioquia).

I have a question about these murders in Antioquia. Why? Who were they killing? Were these political murders--local teachers, community activists, human rights workers, trade unionists, peasant farmers (to steal their land), local leftist politicians and other advocates of the poor? Was there a political purpose? Was it several purposes--eliminating rival drug operations, punishing uncooperative coca leaf farmers, executing thieves?

The Jesuit priest's letter wasn't clear--or I don't remember what it said--about the death squad targets. Of course NO ONE should be summarily executed but I'm just wondering if murder for political "cleansing" (i.e., in support of Senator Alvaro Uribe's career) also came from Antioquia and became official policy as the Uribes infected the whole country--military and government.

The police captain portrays himself as being hot to kill leftist guerillas and patriotic or loyal to "the institution" (the police state?). That was his motivation as a new police captain. He went to Antioquia because it was a rebel area that others were afraid to go into. And, basically, he found himself in the middle of a criminal enterprise--the Uribe mafia--whereby the police ignored the Uribe gang's murders (and wrote them up as justifiable) in exchange for the Uribe mafia keeping a sort of nazi (terrorizing) order in the region.

My read on it is that this, too, got expanded to the whole country--the government, the military--and many other regions, with Alvaro's ascendance to the presidency--that is, the whole country was being run like a criminal gang. The U.S. has portrayed Uribe's rule in terms of the demobilization of the AUC (the rightwing death squads) but actually the opposite is true. The death squads became the government.

They also laud Uribe for exterminating the FARC but ignore or de-emphasize the thousands of other people who were murdered--the decapitation of local leadership of the poor. And they treat this 70 year civil war as some sort of righteous "law and order" campaign, when, in truth, under Uribe, at least, the government/military was far, far worse than the guerillas, with the government/military crimes abetted by $7 BILLION in U.S. military aid.

Is my read on this correct--that the Antioquia gang took over the country? I mean, as an overarching theory of what has happened in Colombia? It sure fits with the notion of the Bush crime gang taking over the U.S., and the two crime gangs making an alliance (with so much money to be made--trillions--from the cocaine trade combined with bilking U.S. taxpayers for billions in all the latest Pentagon weaponry to enforce this gangsterism throughout the land).

The google translation gives an idea of what Meneses told the court about Santiago U. But some key points are not quite translated correctly.

We are off to the yearly Super Bowl family ritual. Returning tomorrow and will try to answer the questions you pose and translate the Meneses statement. (Was too tired last night.)

But a quick read of your post shows you are almost on the mark, just need a few clarifications.

Cheer for the Packers :-)