Colombian paramilitary tells how he financed his own Murder Inc.: bananas

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Saturday, 03.21.09

COLOMBIAN DEATH SQUADS

Colombian paramilitary tells how he financed his own Murder Inc.: bananas
A jailed paramilitary fundraiser tells how he squeezed money out of banana exporters to underwrite a murderous campaign against his countrymen.
BY STEVEN DUDLEY
Special to The Miami Herald

ITAGU, Colombia -- For a guy who brags about killing hundreds of his countrymen, Raúl Hasbún lives high on the government's dime. He sits in a plush cell outside Medellín where he enjoys cable TV, raids his own fridge, can order out for fast food and has his cat to keep him company.

Hasbún, a former banana grower and paramilitary involved in Colombia's right-wing counterinsurgency, was able to score such a cushy arrangement because his words are in demand. Everyone wants to hear how he allegedly devised a method for putting the squeeze on international companies to raise the money to arm the death squads that carried out the gruesome massacres that kept Colombia in a constant state of turmoil.

In other words, he monetized the murder of Colombians, including many civilians.

~snip~
Hasbún's testimony is shaking the foundations of power in Colombia. It could do the same in Washington, where Justice Department officials are facing increasing pressure from human rights groups and a congressional committee to look deeper into the links between the multinationals and Colombia's murderous militias.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/961958.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Found his photo in newspaper owned by Uribe's Defense Secretary Santos' family:

Raúl Hasbún, 'Pedro bonito', ex jefe del bloque Bananero de las Auc.

"Raúl Hasbún 'Pedro beautiful', the former head of the bloc of the AUC Bananero."

http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/2008-07-26/ARTICULO-WEB-PLANTILLA_NOTA_INTERIOR-4398930.html