Bogota blames neo-paramilitaries for violence in anti-government protests

[Judi Lynn]

Bogota blames neo-paramilitaries for violence in anti-government protests
posted by Oliver Griffin
Sep 2, 2013

The mayor of Bogota and a number of other officials have blamed neo-paramilitary group “Los Paisas” for violence in and after anti-government protests in Colombia’s capital last week.

Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro claimed on twitter that the Paisas were responsible for paying and organizing the acts of vandalism that took place during Bogota’s protests:

Gustavo Petro @petrogustavo

"los paisas" es el grupo que contrato pandillas y jóvenes de Suba para destruir CAI y comercio y establecer sus extorsiones

11:28 AM - 31 Aug 2013

The Paisas are a small rural neo-paramilitary group that was formed in the wake of the demobilization of paramilitary umbrella organization AUC between 2003 and 2006. The group has been decimated over the past few years as a number of its key commanders joined rival group “The Urabeños.”

Colombian media reported on Monday that Petro’s claims were supported by other officials from the capital, including the Mayor of the Bosa district, Diana Calderon, and the Secretary of District Security Hugo Zarrate.
Zarrate said that ”we have established that the vandalism that took place this week were organized criminal acts and not independent or spontaneous. This may include smaller drug trafficking groups who exploit the areas with the highest rate of violence in order to organize acts of vandalism.”

More:
http://colombiareports.co/bogota-mayor-paisas-responsible-violence-protestse/