Ex-senator in Colombia gets nine years for ties to paramilitary -US- named terrorist organization)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Ex-senator in Colombia gets nine years for ties to paramilitary
Mar 19, 2010, 5:36 GMT

Bogota - A former senator and close ally of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison for his ties to right-wing paramilitary fighters.

Alvaro Araujo belonged to a criminal ring by having close ties with a paramilitary commander and accepted money from the paramilitary group, the Supreme Court said Thursday during the sentencing.

About 70 lawmakers, most of them supporters of Uribe, are being investigated for ties with the now-demobilized United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).

The AUC was formed to fight leftist guerillas but, along with its rivals, was accused of civilian massacres, other human rights abuses and engagement in the drug trade. Over two decades of fighting, it was accused of killing at least 150,000 people and was designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.



Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/news/article_1542211.php/Ex-senator-in-Colombia-gets-nine-years-for-ties-to-paramilitary

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On edit, adding image:
http://www.elpais.com.co.nyud.net:8090/paisonline/fotos_notas/perfil.jpg http://www.eltiempo.com.nyud.net:8090/colombia/justicia/2008-08-05/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-4427888-1.jpg

http://www.cambio.com.co.nyud.net:8090/especiales/home/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-3480322-2.jpg

Alvaro Araujo

[rabs]

1. Nice family, the Araujos (by Alvaro Uribe's standards)

but not so nice by normal standards.


Uribito sure knows how to pick 'em.

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Maria Consuelo Araujo as Minister of Foreign Affairs meeting with the (then) US Ambassador William Wood. (She resigned 19 February 2007 after her brother the senator was arrested. Wood became U.S. ambassador in Kabul the same year.)

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Alvaro Araujo Castro's sister, Maria Consuelo Araujo Castro, resigned from her position as Minister of Foreign Relations following the arrest of her brother.

Their father, Alvaro Araujo Noguera, has also been widely accused of having links to paramilitary groups.


http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8761-senator-sentenced-for-paramilitary-ties.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Oh, my gosh! I didn't know SHE was his sister. I remember she had to resign as Foreign Minister.

And the FATHER, my god.

I kept seeing the father's photo when I was looking for a photo for the son, and it appeared the older guy had been well known, in the hierchy in Colombia, but also in trouble with the law himself! Here's a photo of him at the back of this group:



Getty Images 18 months ago
Colombian former minister Alvaro Araujo Noguera (R) is escorted by members of the Venezuelan Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) to the plane which will take him back to Colombia an international arrest warrant for extortive kidnap was issued against him, on September 9, 2008 in Caracas. Araujo wass deported by the new Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami.

http://www.caracol.com.co.nyud.net:8090/images/839156_n_vir1.jpg

Father, son

http://www.revistadiners.com.co.nyud.net:8090/media/Araujo2.jpg

http://static2.elespectador.com.nyud.net:8090/files/images/mar2009/4f25eff31830301d1516d922af8a3062.jpg

Father, with Uribe's Foreign Minister, Maria Consuelo

http://www.jetset.com.co.nyud.net:8090/galerias/mod_1103/f1.jpg

Ex-senator with his sister, Uribe's former Foreign Minster Maria Consuelo Araujo in Jamaica.

Yes, he REALLY knows how to pick them. He didn't get to pick his own nasty paramilitary-connected cousin, did he? http://esaplaticaseperdio.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2008/08/mario-uribe.jpg

Page last updated at 10:20 GMT, Thursday, 25 February 2010
Cousin of Colombia President Alvaro Uribe rearrested

A cousin of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been rearrested over his alleged ties to paramilitary groups. Mario Uribe Escobar, a former senator, was detained following an order from the Colombian Supreme Court.

Mario Uribe, who denies any wrongdoing, was detained for several months in 2008 but subsequently released for lack of evidence linking him to paramilitaries. Dozens of current and former lawmakers have been jailed or investigated over their alleged links to paramilitaries.

Former paramilitary leaders have alleged that Mario Uribe conspired with their groups in the 1990s to take over farmland in agriculturally rich regions of Colombia that were under paramilitary control.

The right-wing militias were created by landowners and drug traffickers to combat left-wing rebels and anyone suspected of being a sympathiser.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8536095.stm

[Judi Lynn]

3. Just saw the father was a former Minister of Agriculture.

Perfect spot for someone connected to the narco-trafficking death squads responsible for driving so many people off their own little farms, isn't it?

I've heard they approach the farmer and offer him a tiny amount of money, and if he refuses they tell him they will settle the arrangement with his widow. They run people off their own land, take ownership, and in many cases that land has ended up in the hands of the state, and then is sold to giant biofuel business, palm oil plantations, mining companies, etc.

Is that somewhat the way it has worked, as you've heard?

I got overly excited seeing your early comments and didn't stick around to read your link which SAID the dad also is connected to the killers until later. Very silly on my part. Sorry!

[mudplanet]

4. At this point in this post I'm waiting for some asswipe to start telling

us how much more popular the militias are with the people than FARC.

[rabs]

5. Paramilitary "Scratch" taints more politicians

In today's El Tiempo of Bogota a story reveals how captured paramilitary capo Luis Gómez (aka "Scratch") shelled out out about 170,000 dollars to finance the campaigns for sitting Colombian Senator Dilian Francisca Toro, former Sen. Habib Merheg and national Chamber of Deputies member Luis Carlos Restrepo.

"Scratch" was the boss of the Norte del Valle cartel and has been extradited to the United States on money-laundering charges. He confessed about financing the politicians before Colombian Supreme Court judges on Feb. 22.


Spanish:
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/alias-rasguno-revela-que-financio-a-tres-congresistas-en-2002_7440347-1

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Uribe = U.S. ally = Plan Colombia = 6.5 billion U.S. tax dollars = more cocaine production now than ever = massive government corruption = parapolitics = more narcotraffickers = massacres = false positives = 3.5 million campesinos displaced = FARC and ELN still roaming the jungles and on and on.

Suspect that now that Uribe is on his way out, more and more scandals will surface. Yesterday the Supreme Court said its judges were receiving death threats and asked for protection.