Cousin of Colombian President Arrested in Death Squad Probe
Mario Uribe Seized After Failed Bid for Political Asylum at Costa Rican Embassy
A man places photographs of people murdered or missing, allegedly because of paramilitary groups, on the fence of the Costa Rican Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. (By William Fernando Martinez -- Associated Press)
By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 23, 2008; Page A12
BOGOTA, Colombia, April 22 -- Authorities on Tuesday arrested former senator Mario Uribe, a cousin and close ally of President Álvaro Uribe, for alleged ties to death squads in a widening inquiry that has implicated nearly a quarter of Colombia's Congress.
The arrest of the former senator, who built a formidable political movement that helped his cousin win the presidency in 2002, comes during an institutional crisis that has tarnished a country closely allied with the United States.
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Still, the simmering scandal has indirectly hurt Colombia's president, the Bush administration's closest ally in Latin America and the beneficiary of billions of dollars in American military aid. Recently jailed allies include Carlos García, president of the pro-Uribe U Party, and Sen. Rubén Quintero, who was Uribe's private secretary when he was governor of Antioquia state in the late 1990s.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042201144.html