Colombia's Mario Uribe Asks for Asylum After Arrest Warrant (Cousin of Bush's Colombian ally)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bloomberg

Colombia's Mario Uribe Asks for Asylum After Arrest Warrant

By Andrea Jaramillo

April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Former Colombian Senator Mario Uribe asked Costa Rica for political asylum after a prosecutor ordered his arrest for alleged ties to paramilitary groups, El Tiempo newspaper said, citing his attorney, Jose del Carmen Ortega.

Uribe, a cousin of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, went to the Costa Rican embassy in Bogota today on the grounds that he doesn't have adequate procedural guarantees in Colombia, the daily newspaper said, citing a source it didn't name. He has repeatedly denied links to paramilitary death squads.

Mario Uribe's arrest would bring to 33 the number of lawmakers detained in a growing scandal over alleged ties to paramilitary groups, Bogota-based El Tiempo said.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aM02hYNyJysQ&refer=latin_america

[Judi Lynn]

1. Uribe cousin ordered held in Colombia 'para' probe

Uribe cousin ordered held in Colombia 'para' probe

BOGOTA, Apr 22 (Reuters) Colombian authorities today ordered the arrest of President Alvaro Uribe's cousin and one of his closest allies for suspected ties to paramilitary death squads in a deepening political scandal.

The probe into Mario Uribe, who has been the president's political confidant for years, could fuel concerns among US Democrats who oppose a Colombian trade deal partly because of worries over lingering paramilitary influence in politics.

Alvaro Uribe, a close US partner, has eased Colombia's conflict by driving back rebels and negotiating the surrender of paramilitary fighters who are accused of carrying out massacres and drug trafficking in the name of counter-insurgency.

But more than 60 lawmakers -- many from political parties allied to the president -- are now under investigation in the so-called ''para-political'' scandal and at least 32 of those are in jail while prosecutors probe their ties to the militias.

Mario Uribe, a second cousin to the president and a former congressional chief, was ordered detained on conspiracy charges on suspicion he struck deals with former paramilitary commanders when they were still active, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

''Uribe is being investigated for a meeting he had with former paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso before the elections of March 10, 2002 and with Jairo Castillo Peralta, alias ''Pitirri,'' in November 1998,'' it said.

More:
http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=18463

[whistle]

2. This is the fascist correct?

[Judi Lynn]

3. It's Bush's favorite puppet's cousin, former senator Mario Uribe Escobar!

[whistle]

16. Fascist, just what I thought...send him and all the others to Paraguay

[judasdisney]

4. Alvaro Uribe's got Death Squads & mass graves. Chavez doesn't.

I'll continue to beat a dead horse:

Imagine if this was Chavez instead of Uribe.

Death squads are OK if they're on the Right Wing.

[Judi Lynn]

7. You may remember the FIRST "laptop" story in Colombian news!

It all came along with the arrest of this man who's "alleged" to be implicated with Álvaro Uribe's cousin, Mario:

Colombian militia leader confesses to massacres

Sibylla Brodzinsky in Medellín The Guardian, Thursday January 18 2007



Salvatore Mancuso (left) with paramilitary soldiers
near Turbo, Colombia. Photograph: Zoe Selsky/AP


A senior commander of Colombia's rightwing militias has admitted taking part in some of the country's most grisly crimes in the first of what could become a flood of confessions from demobilised paramilitary leaders.
Salvatore Mancuso told a prosecutor in Medellín this week that he was responsible for hundreds of kidnappings, murders and massacres during his 15-year career in the death squads that spread terror throughout Colombia in the name of fighting leftist rebels.

In two days of testimony, Mancuso admitted to directly participating in or ordering the murder of hundreds of people, among them mayors, union leaders and peasants. With presentations projected from his laptop computer, Mancuso listed in chronological order the massacres at El Aro, Mápiripan, El Salado and other towns, all of which he called "anti-subversive operations". He also named the victims.

Some relatives of the dead heard the confessions. When Miryam Areiza heard Mancuso read her father's name as he recounted the 1997 massacre at El Aro, where he and 14 others were tortured and killed, she said she felt ill. "Where does he get off saying my father was a guerrilla? My father was a peasant, tending to his farm. He was tortured and killed and Mancuso was responsible," she said outside the special room for victims and their families to watch the closed proceedings.

Ms Areiza said she saw little contrition. "He seemed proud of what they'd done, not remorseful," she said.

Mancuso recounted how, in each operation, the paramilitaries had direct or indirect collaboration with government forces. But he has implicated only military officers who are dead or already convicted for the crimes he described. He said he planned the El Aro massacre with General Alfonso Manosalva, commander of the army's 4th Brigade, who is now dead. In 2003, a Colombian court convicted Mancuso in absentia for the massacre.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jan/18/colombia.sibyllabrodzinsky

[judasdisney]

10. Both Obama & Hillary ignore these facts

and yesterday, apparently, Obama called Chavez a "dictator," joining Hillary on the trash-heap of history, as far as I'm concerned.

Plan Colombia will come home to roost in the U.S. There will be paramilitary death squads & mass graves, and plenty of Mancusos "proud of what they've done." Americans are just that stupid, led by the most corrupt in history, including Democrats, who let the wolf in the door in 2000, saw the Nazis unmask themselves, yet still made backdoor deals with Colombia and called Chavez "dictator."

Get me out of this wasteland.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Didn't hear what he said until seeing your post. Jeez, that rips it!

Maybe there's time for the guy to wake the #### up, but when they are that lame, that they don't attempt to get the truth out and over the crap we've been getting from the _Bush administration and its media stenographers, then something BIG is going to have to happen.

This is exactly the right time for South America to be developing its own regional unity, FINALLY. Maybe that will be their strength. Keep those fingers crossed, and don't give up.

[Peace Patriot]

24. What did I miss? Obama said Chavez is a "dictator"? Good grief! When? Where?

I completely missed this. I had the impression he was better informed--and saner--than Clinton (and of course than the mad dog Bushites). I thought he was cleaner, too. I mean, Clinton had a paid agent of the Colombian government as her chief campaign strategist (Mark Penn--and he's still with her campaign in some capacity)! Jeez, how corrupt can you get?

Oh, well, it's not as if I'm naive about who the war profiteers will permit to be come prez-emperor of the U.S. This is one of the reasons it's so hard to figure out what the hell is going on in our political establishment. Those who run for office are actually speaking to hidden powermongers, and they've saying, "Lookee here, I'm a 'Blue Dog'--I won't touch your war profits," or, "Hey, I can hate Iran, too, how dare they have our oil!," etc. Now it's Chavez who has some of "our" oil, and damn, he's using it to help the poor--who does he think he is?! How dare he "dictate" to Exxon-Mobil!

Contenders for emperor have got to keep the "enemy' thing going, or they will be "swift-boated," "scream-taped," ignored, marginalized, black-holed, or worse.

It's disgusting, but we've got to face this reality, understand who rules us, and work toward the re-empowerment of the American people, and restoration of our democracy. We've got rightwing nutjobs 'counting' all our votes with 'trade secret,' proprietary programming code. As long as that, and billion-dollar campaign requirements, continue, we can expect murkiness and bullshit from our leaders, even if they have some good intentions, because they are not really beholden to us!

[jaksavage]

5. Funny, he doesn't trust

his own countries judiciary.

[Judi Lynn]

14. His best bet is to get far, far away, now that too many people are in on his formerly well-kept

secrets.

Now that so much attention is focused on them, too many other things may have to be treated in an "official" manner, like the following story, also out today:

Paramilitary victims want "Macaco" to stand trial in Colombia
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-08 10:40:19

BOGOTA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Families of Colombian paramilitary victims demanded Monday that the former paramilitary chief Carlos Mario Jimenez, better known by his alias "Macaco," stand trial in Colombia for crimes against humanity.

The call was made after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe signed Friday a decree approving the extradition of "Macaco" to the United States to face charges of illicit drug trafficking and money laundering.

The victims families' lawyer Alirio Uribe explained that if "Macaco" is extradited, his "more serious" crimes will go unpunished.

More:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/08/content_7938779.htm







Sweet images of this death squad leader, Carlos Mario Jimenez ("Macaco")

[Judi Lynn]

6. Lawyer: Colombia leader's cousin seeks political asylum

updated 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Lawyer: Colombia leader's cousin seeks political asylum

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- An attorney says a cousin of Colombia's president who is wanted for alleged paramilitary ties is in the Costa Rican Embassy in Bogota requesting political asylum.

The lawyer, Jose del Carmen Ortega, tells The Associated Press that his client Mario Uribe entered the embassy Tuesday morning.

Colombia's chief prosecutor has announced an arrest warrant for the ex-senator. Uribe is accused of promoting illegal right-wing militias.

Mario Uribe has long been the closest political ally of President Alvaro Uribe. The two are second cousins.

The prosecutor's office said in a terse statement that it was investigating a meeting between Mario Uribe and former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso before the 2002 congressional elections.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/22/colombia.paramilitary.ap/



Death squad leader, Salvatore Mancuso

[Robbien]

9. Uribe wants this to go away

and go away quickly and quietly.

Mancuso going to another country asking for asylum is not what one would consider to be the best way of be quiet. Ha!

[Judi Lynn]

12. Now we start to grasp why Uribe and Bush have been in such a frenzy to get this deal done!

Ah, ha ha ha ha.

The cousin has been known to be really rotten for a long time, but nothing ever seemed to kick this up into such high visibility that the government actually went after him. After all, so many of the Colombian senate has been all tied up with the death squads, themselves, having political opposition KILLED, threatened, etc. by these monsters.

There's a whole lot of #### that hit the fan when they discovered the REAL laptop, Salvatore Mancuso's laptop last year. Looks as if they've had far more to handle than they could suppress!

[AlphaCentauri]

19. that's why Uribe needed the attack on the FARC in Ecuador soil to divert attention n/t

[Judi Lynn]

8. Uribe's cousin seeks asylum amid Colombia probe

Uribe's cousin seeks asylum amid Colombia probe
Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:54pm EDT

Uribe's cousin seeks asylum amid Colombia probe
Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:54pm EDT
By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's cousin sought asylum in Costa Rica on Tuesday after prosecutors ordered him arrested for suspected ties to paramilitary squads in a deepening scandal for the U.S. ally.

The investigation of Mario Uribe, for years a congressman and the president's confidant, will fuel concerns among U.S. Democrats who oppose a Colombian trade deal partly due to worries over links between dozens of lawmakers and paramilitary commanders.
(snip)

Mario Uribe stepped down from the Senate in October last year to protect himself from questions from the Supreme Court, which investigates public officials. But the attorney general has kept up its probe into his ties with militia warlords.

Former paramilitary commanders have testified as part of their peace deal that Uribe worked out deals with militias to help him take control of farmland and also to seek their political backing.

Paramilitary groups originally were formed by wealthy land owners to counter rebels in areas where state presence was weak. But their influence soon mushroomed as they took control of large swaths of the Andean country.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN2229946220080422

[Judi Lynn]

13. NY Times: Uribe Defends Policy on Paramilitaries as a Cousin Avoids Arrest

(...right out of the gate first to protect the image of _Bush ally, Álvaro Uribe)

Uribe Defends Policy on Paramilitaries as a Cousin Avoids Arrest
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: April 23, 2008

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Faced with a widening scandal over ties between his political supporters and paramilitary death squads, President Álvaro Uribe stridently defended his response to the scandal in an interview here, claiming his government had strengthened the power of judges investigating the revelations.

“Colombia is not in the time of crisis, but in the time of remedies,” Mr. Uribe said Monday night at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace. “We have almost doubled the budget of the justice administration,” he said, referring to judges who have ordered the arrest of dozens of members of Congress and Mr. Uribe’s former intelligence chief.
(snip)

In the interview, President Uribe did not address his cousin’s entanglement in the scandal. But he emphasized a sharp drop in murders and kidnappings across Colombia since he took power in 2002, developments he attributed in part to his government’s demobilization of thousands of paramilitary combatants.

Fears have emerged that the paramilitaries, which formed to battle leftist guerrillas, are resurfacing in parts of Colombia with a focus on drug trafficking and extortion. These resurgent groups are thought responsible for a large part of the cocaine trade; Colombia still accounts for about 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States.

But Mr. Uribe said his government had recovered “the monopoly of the state to fight any illegal group,” referring to describe these new armed groups as “criminal gangs.” Dressed in a pinstriped suit, Mr. Uribe, a lawyer who studied at Harvard and Oxford, carefully enunciated his replies in strongly accented English.

Despite the scandal that has crept into Congress, his cabinet and even his own family, Mr. Uribe remains widely popular here with approval ratings above 80 percent. Many Colombians rallied around him after a diplomatic dispute in March with Ecuador and Venezuela over Colombia’s bombing raid of a Colombian rebel camp in Ecuador.

When asked about delays in Washington over a trade deal with the United States, Mr. Uribe, the Bush administration’s top ally in Latin America, chose his words with caution. “I have to be very prudent,” he said in relation to the trade deal, which has been delayed amid partisan bickering and concerns over killings of Colombian union members.
(snip)

Mr. Uribe pointed to Colombia’s other differences from some of its neighbors, with Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela ruled by leftist leaders with contrasting views on relations with the United States, rules regarding foreign investment and the role of market forces in the economy.
(snip)

Even as Mr. Uribe’s supporters are mounting an effort to amend the Constitution to allow him to run for a third term, another scandal emerged here this week after a former member of congress, Yidis Medina, said she was offered illegal favors to support an amendment that allowed Mr. Uribe to run for another term in 2006.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23colombia.html?ex=1366603200&en=3211c442a5426cff&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[Judi Lynn]

15. Colombia: warrant for president's cousin

Colombia: warrant for president's cousin
By FRANK BAJAK – 33 minutes ago

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of one of President Alvaro Uribe's most intimate allies on Tuesday, bringing a scandal linking politicians and right-wing militias deeper into the president's inner circle.

Former Sen. Mario Uribe, a second cousin of the president, was accused of criminal conspiracy for "agreements to promote illegal armed groups."

Mario Uribe quickly entered Costa Rica's embassy to request political asylum, his attorney Jose del Carmen Ortega told The Associated Press. He didn't give details, and Costa Rican officials refused to comment.

The wanted politician, who resigned from the Senate in October when he came under formal investigation, is one of the most powerful officials enmeshed in the scandal. He has long been close to Alvaro Uribe, and in 1985 the two founded a political party together.

The prosecutor's office said in a terse statement that it was investigating a meeting between Mario Uribe and former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso prior to 2002 congressional elections. It was also looking into a 1998 meeting with Jairo Castillo Peralta, a former paramilitary chauffeur.

Mancuso has alleged that Mario Uribe sought his support in the 2002 Senate race. Castillo Peralta, who lives in exile, has said Mario Uribe met with paramilitary warlords in 1998 seeking cheap land near the Caribbean coast.

Mario Uribe has denied those allegations. In an April 2007 interview with the AP, he called Castillo "a liar, an extortionist, a killer and a bandit."

More:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWG2LxDYBEblErWnaRRrEl4OhfkwD907547G0

[Judi Lynn]

17. ALL of the Colombian government needs a total cleansing. Remember the murders of children by the

Colombian military you may have read only last month?

This story indicates the massacre in a designated PEACE COMMUNITY has been blamed on the rebels, of course, when every one has always known the military did it:

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: 15 Soldiers to Be Arrested for Massacre
By Gloria Helena Rey

BOGOTA, Mar 28 (IPS) - Authorities in Colombia have ordered the arrest of three army officers and 12 non-commissioned officers accused of killing eight adults and three children in the banana-growing region of Urabá on the border with Panama.

The rightwing government of Álvaro Uribe had blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the 2005 killings of the 11 members of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community, created in 1997 by families displaced by Colombia’s four-decade civil war.

In a letter addressed to army chief General Mario Montoya, Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán requested on Thursday the arrest of the 15 members of the army.

Peace communities are rural villages that have declared themselves neutral territory in the armed conflict, in which civilians are frequently killed by the leftist rebels, the far-right paramilitaries or government forces.

Since 1997, at least 170 members of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community, which is located in a conflict zone in northwestern Colombia , have been killed, even though the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered precautionary measures for their protection, and the Constitutional Court likewise sought safeguards for the community in March 2004.

A former paramilitary, Jorge Luis Salgado, told prosecutors that the Feb. 21, 2005 killings were committed by the army in conjunction with the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).

According to Salgado’s testimony, segments of which were published by the local press, "The children were under the bed…We suggested to the officers that they be left in a nearby house, but they said they were a threat, that they would become guerrillas in the future…’Cobra’ grabbed the (five or six-year-old) girl by the hair and cut her throat with a machete."

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41778

[arcos]

18. Costa Rica denies asylum to Colombian

Costa Rica denies asylum to Colombian

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica has rejected a political asylum request by a Colombian presidential confidante accused of having ties with right-wing paramilitaries.

The Foreign Ministry says that former Sen. Mario Uribe's request is inadmissible based on information shared with them by Colombian prosecutors. Uribe is a second cousin and close ally to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Colombia's chief prosecutor ordered Mario Uribe's arrest on Tuesday, and the former senator immediately requested asylum at the Costa Rican embassy in Bogota.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3pUmChuJUj02Dp2kuF1tcMVg85QD90783480


For a couple of hours, I was afraid it was going to be granted, but I guess that the government wisely saw it would only undermine their already shaky credibility on the Colombian conflict and its implications in Costa Rica.

[Solly Mack]

20. K&R

[arcos]

21. Colombia: president's cousin detained

Colombia: president's cousin detained

BOGOTA, Colombia - Authorities say President Alvaro Uribe's close political ally with alleged paramilitary ties has been detained upon leaving Costa Rica's embassy.


The federal prosecutor's office says former Sen. Mario Uribe was taken into custody by authorities hours after he entered the diplomatic office in an unsuccessful asylum bid. Mario Uribe is the second cousin and confidante of President Uribe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080423/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_paramilitary_scandal;_ylt=AuGpYA9YhPS.4JFcxgBqpcSs0NUE

[Judi Lynn]

22. L.A.Times: Colombia scandal ensnares close ally of President Alvaro Uribe

Colombia scandal ensnares close ally of President Alvaro Uribe

Former Sen. Mario Uribe, a cousin of the president, faces charges over alleged dealings with outlawed paramilitary groups.
By Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
8:26 PM PDT, April 22, 2008
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Authorities on Tuesday ordered the arrest of President Alvaro Uribe's cousin and confidant Mario Uribe, charging him with criminal conspiracy in alleged dealings with outlawed paramilitary groups.
(snip)

"There was a lot of doubt that the prosecutor would take such a measure because of what Mario Uribe represents to the president," said Mauricio Romero, a political scientist at Javeriana University in Bogota, the capital. "So this is a real depth charge for those being investigated that {Iguaran} will act forcefully in the theme of para-politics."
(snip)

According to Iguaran, Mario Uribe met with jailed ex-paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso in 2002 just before national elections. Another former militia leader turned government source said Uribe met with him about acquiring discounted land that paramilitaries controlled, Semana magazine reported this month.
(snip)

President Uribe suffered another blow when the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over criminal inquiries of sitting Congress members, said it was investigating two staunch supporters for unspecified links to paramilitaries: congressional President Sen. Nancy Patricia Gutierrez and Sen. Carlos Garcia, who heads Uribe's U Party.

President Uribe is the United States' closest Latin American ally, and Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. aid outside the Middle East and Afghanistan. But he has come under increasing fire from the U.S. Congress for failing to defend human rights, and the Democratic leadership in Washington in effect shelved a vote this month on a proposed U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cousins23apr23,1,4813192.story?track=rss
(snip)

[Judi Lynn]

23. UPDATED: President Uribe’s cousin arrested after Costa Rica denies asylum

UPDATED: President Uribe’s cousin arrested after Costa Rica denies asylum
Breaking news
By equinoXio
Tuesday 22 April 2008 14:12 COT

Former Senator Mario Uribe Escobar, 58, cousin of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, has been arrested Tuesday night by agents of the Attorney General’s office Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) as he left the Costa Rican embassy in Bogotá, among protests of relatives and representatives of victims of paramilitary militias Uribe Escobar has been linked to.

Mr Uribe Escobar was seeking asylum in Costa Rica after the General Attorney’s office issued an arrest warrant early Tuesday, his lawyer José del Carmen Ortega told local media. Uribe Escobar quitted from Senate in October 2007 after the Supreme Court started an official investigation on his alleged links with the United Self-defences of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary militias. He had been subpoenaed in September.

Two hours before, at 18:30 COT (23:30 UTC) Tuesday Costa Rican authorities had denied Uribe Escobar’s request for political asylum, according to a Foreign Relations Ministry communiqué published on its website. The Ministry considered the request "inadmissible" and says it has taken into account a "communication sent by the Colombia’s General Attorney’s office" reporting an arrest warrant against Mr Uribe Escobar and the "concern for Mr Uribe not to evade Colombian justice’s summons".


On Tuesday morning, Ramiro Marín, delegate attorney before the Supreme Court, issued an arrest warrant for Uribe on criminal conspiracy charges for "agreements to promote illegal armed groups". Uribe Escobar allegedly met paramilitary chief Salvatore Mancuso (currently in jail after a demobilization process) before the 2002 elections, and with Jairo Castillo Peralta, aka Pitirri, in 1998. Castillo told the investigators that Uribe Escobar met several times with paramilitaries "in order to negotiate of lands in Caucasia ", where he allegedly acquired "more than 5,000 ha of land with the help of paramilitary pressure", weekly newspaper El Espectador says on its website. As the General Attorney’s Office seeks Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant, Uribe Escobar waited to met Costa Rican ambassador Clara Montero Mejía.

Mr Uribe Escobar, a close ally of his cousin, President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, is the chief of the right-wing Colombia Democrática party, with a long political experience. He was President of the Colombian Senate between July 2000 and July 2001. All Colombia Democrática’s congressmen but one are in jail or under investigation for the so-called parapolitics scandal. On Monday, Ricardo Elcure Chacón, who replaced Uribe Escobar after his resignation, delivered himself to the Attorney’s Office after it issued an arrest warrant against him, after the testimony of Jorge Iván Laverde, aka Iguano, who accused Elcure of receiving COP$80 million (US$45,000 or €28,000) for his Norte de Santander governorship campaign in 2003. Elcure was not elected.

More:
http://en.equinoxio.org/breaking/president-uribes-cousin-costa-rica-asylum-20080422-000050/