Plot to Kill Colombian Witness Exposed

[Judi Lynn]

Plot to Kill Colombian Witness Exposed
By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 26, 2008; A14

BOGOTA, Colombia, April 25 -- The Colombian attorney general's office confirmed Friday that it had uncovered a plot to assassinate a key witness whose testimony has linked several Colombian congressmen, including President Álvaro Uribe's cousin, to death squads.

Authorities on Monday warned Jairo Castillo, 40, a former member of an ultra-right paramilitary group who now lives in Canada, that investigators had determined that two hit men posing as tourists would try to kill him. The attorney general's office then faxed him a warning Tuesday, and Castillo reported the threat to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

"I fear for my life," Castillo said by telephone from Canada, saying he believed that those he has testified against, members of the death squads, want him dead. "I know all about the network they use for murdering people," he said.

Police officials in Canada did not return phone calls seeking comment. Officials in the attorney general's office in Bogota confirmed that authorities learned of the plot against Castillo through an analysis of intelligence. José Gilberto Martínez of the witness protection program then alerted Castillo, who lives in Quebec province and has been granted political asylum in Canada.

The plot was uncovered the same week that the attorney general's office arrested former senator Mario Uribe, a political ally of the president. Castillo had accused the politician of having participated in meetings with paramilitary groups in which land grabs were orchestrated.
(snip)

Castillo, in an interview with The Washington Post last April, said Mario Uribe was "a strong collaborator of the paramilitaries' " who wanted the groups' commanders to pressure people to sell him land at low prices.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503238.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombian witness appeals to RCMP

Colombian witness appeals to RCMP
Told of plot to kill him in Canada

Graeme Hamilton And Natalie Alcoba, National Post
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

MONTREAL - Colombia's witness-protection agency has warned a former paramilitary turned state witness that two assassins posing as tourists plan to travel to his new home in Canada to kill him.

Jairo Castillo Peralta has been living at an undisclosed location in Quebec since being granted political asylum in 2002. Turned informant on members of a paramilitary group he joined in his home state of Antioquia, his testimony has already helped put several members of congress in jail. This week, Mario Uribe, a former senator who is a cousin and close ally of President Alvaro Uribe, was arrested for alleged ties to paramilitary death squads after being implicated by Mr. Castillo.
(snip)

"I am less fearful than in Colombia, but I'm still scared, because we're dealing with a dirty state that is capable of killing anyone," he said of his native country. "I had got used to the peace and quiet."

He said he is waiting to hear what kind of protection the RCMP can offer. "I feel alone, without any government support. Because in a country like Colombia, it's common that someone who testifies in favour of the government doesn't even see the light of day. Now who is going to protect me, if they're sending people to assassinate me in Canada?"

Mr. Castillo has been trying to build a new life here with his wife and six children, but his past has followed him. He has continued to work with Colombian authorities investigating connections between lawmakers, landowners and violent right-wing paramilitary organizations in Antioquia, which is also the home state of the President.

He has said he was forced to join a local paramilitary group in 1995, serving as a chauffeur and bodyguard. He earlier described Mario Uribe as "a strong collaborator of the paramilitaries" and said he was present at two meetings between the senator and paramilitary groups, during which they talked of ways to grab land from private landowners.

His revelations about Mr. Uribe and others have helped propel an inquiry in Colombia that has led to the arrest of 32 members of congress for ties to paramilitary groups. The groups, formed initially to counter leftist guerillas, are accused of killing thousands of civilians and trafficking cocaine.

Mr. Castillo said the threat will not stop him from aiding Colombian investigators.

"Until the Canadian government tells me to stop testifying, I'll keep co-operating with authorities, because it's a personal mission of mine," he said. "I'm doing it for the future of my children, of other young Colombians who deserve to live in a proper country, like Canada."

More:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=472558