Cepeda denounces rival for links to narcoparamilitarism

The Historic Pact candidate for president, senator Iván Cepeda, presented this Thursday (11) in Bogotá a criminal complaint to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office and the International Criminal Court against the mobster Abelardo de la Espriella, his opponent in the dispute for the second round on the 21st.

According to the human rights fighter, whose father was murdered by the far right, the accusation “contains new evidence of probable links between the current presidential candidate and the narco-paramilitary organization Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC)”.

The criminal action points to the practice of “conspiracy to commit a crime (article 340 of the Colombian Penal Code), terrorist financing (article 345) and illicit enrichment (article 327)”.

“It has always been stated or assumed that De la Espriella was a financier or accomplice of the paramilitary organization, but based on the documents we have consulted and gathered, it can finally be clarified whether he directly belonged to the AUC and acted as part of them,” he declared.

Cepeda explained that he had received information about how De la Espriella “acted as a possible recruiter for paramilitary groups” during meetings of the Peace Initiatives Foundation (Fipaz), a non-governmental organization promoted by AUC leaders.

Fipaz served as an orange organization for the paramilitaries

As a relevant point, the progressive leader stated that he had information indicating that De la Espriella had created and led the Foundation for the Promotion of Peace Ideas and Actions (Fipaz), an orange organization linked to paramilitarism, “for political purposes during the demobilization process” in 2004.

“Fipaz was financed by the AUC, but at the same time it provided resources and financed the AUC. In other words, De la Espriella would have played the role of being both financed and a financier of the paramilitary organizations”, he argued.

The National Center for Historical Memory, the Truth Commission and a sentence from Justice and Peace follow the same path and characterized Fipaz as an instrument created to expand the social influence of militia members with the use of the organization’s resources.

According to Cepeda, among other macabre figures, the mafioso maintains close ties with the former paramilitary leader of the AUC, Salvatore Mancuso, his childhood friend who helped him manage Fipaz. This “foundation” with a sad memory also selected candidates for the Congress of the Republic, warned the senator in the second point of his accusation.

The third point attacked by Cepeda is the bribe offered by the mafia candidate to the former paramilitary known as Juancho Dique so that he would “remain silent in his testimony” during the process of demobilization of at least 30,000 AUC paramilitaries, under the terms of the Justice and Peace Law (2005).

“De la Espriella played the role of financier and beneficiary of paramilitary groups. And it still needs to be clarified whether he was part of these structures”, emphasized Cepeda, who displayed graphics to illustrate the ultra-rightist’s historical links with former paramilitary leaders.

As a fourth point, Cepeda accused Donald Trump’s nominee, who has four American children and US nationality, of acquiring property from a relative of the narco-paramilitary leader known as “Commander Barbie”, valued at approximately US$200,000. This land was allegedly located close to a center identified as a point of paramilitary operations between 1996 and 2006.

A million dollars in bribes in exchange for silence

As a fifth element, the progressive maintained that the fascist was accused by former paramilitary Juan Carlos Sierra, aka “El Tuso”, of asking him for around one million dollars for “bribes before the Court” and, thus, obtaining lighter sentences. “I ask the Public Ministry to reopen the investigations to determine the degree of De la Espriella’s involvement with paramilitary organizations,” he emphasized.

In Cepeda’s assessment, given all the documents collected and the opponent’s recognized obscure trajectory, it is necessary to investigate in depth, as De la Espriella “allegedly contributed to the payment of bribes for the election of former Attorney General Mario Iguarán” (2005-2009) in order for him to act “as a guarantor of impunity for paramilitary leaders” before the courts.

Finally, he asked the International Criminal Court to thoroughly investigate each of these crimes because “they were not properly investigated by the Colombian judicial system” and involve crimes against humanity.

“I appeal to victims’ organizations to activate all their mechanisms so that, from this moment on, Mr. De la Espriella appears before the judicial system, his potential criminal actions are subject to the most severe punishment and the most detailed and meticulous investigation”, concluded Cepeda.

Cali and Valle del Cauca strengthen the complaint against de La Espriella

For the vice-president of the National Unitary Union of Workers of the Colombian State in Palmira, Arvey Lozano, illegality has already been demonstrated by Abelardo throughout his life when he defended criminals of the worst kind. Among other horrors, he profited as a major lobbyist in the case of the famous DMG pyramid in 2008, which promised dividends of 200% and harmed more than 200 thousand Colombians.

“He took on the defense of David Murcia Guzmán, the creator of the gigantic illegal money-raising operation that speculated with millions of resources that did not belong to him in the pyramid. He defended paramilitaries, profited US$ 350 thousand by embracing the cause of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman, naturalized Venezuelan, who robbed the country through a vast network of shell companies, taking resources from the poorest. Several criminals also reported that they were robbed by him. This gives the Cepeda all the conditions to affirm without fear that De la Espriella is a criminal, linked to crimes against humanity, condemned by the International Criminal Court”.

To top it off, notes Arvey, who was the victim of an attack and had his colleague Alejandro Caicedo Gavilán, general secretary of Sunet murdered, the ultra-right candidate explained what social relations in Colombia would be like if he governed when he spoke of “literally gutting opponents, a word that means taking out their guts”. “The problem is that in our country the candidate can go unpunished because the judges participate in shady deals, mafias, integrated by Abelardo, which makes it possible for him not to be convicted.”

“Abelardo de la Espriella’s proximity to the ultra-right, his links with drug trafficking and paramilitarism are explicit throughout his entire career”, highlighted Liliana Vivas Cortes, from the Unique Union of Education Workers of the Cauca Valley (Sutev), for whom Cepeda’s statement serves as reinforcement of everything that is known.

For federal deputy Ana Erazo, recently elected from Valle del Cauca, Abelardo de la Espriella said “in all words that he will destroy the left, he is an apologist and a terrible promoter of fascism, to such an extent that there are people leaving their homes with a machete to defend him”. “What we are seeing is a fanatical campaign of death against life”, he pointed out.

This coverage by the ComunicaSul Collaborative Communication Agency was only possible thanks to the support of the São Paulo Bank Workers Union; Writers’ Union of the State of São Paulo; newspaper Hora do Povo; Red; Global South Dialogues; Citizenship Mail; Baron of Itararé; councilor Werner Tempel (PCdoB) of Santa Maria-RS; Professor Azuaite, from São Carlos-SP; Angelim Institute, the Public Services International (ISP) and the Colombian Workers’ Unitary Center, as well as several anonymous contributors.