Cousin of Colombian President Arrested in Death Squad Probe
Mario Uribe Seized After Failed Bid for Political Asylum at Costa Rican Embassy
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.
As the result of investigations that began in 2006, 32 members of Congress have been arrested and about 30 others are being formally investigated for ties to paramilitary groups that killed thousands of civilians, infiltrated state institutions and trafficked cocaine to the United States. Preliminary investigations have begun against dozens of others, including the president of Congress, Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez, who was implicated last week.
With the legitimacy of Congress at rock bottom, lawmakers have been locked in a series of heated debates over how to reform the 268-member body and punish those parties whose members have been linked to paramilitary groups.
"What we've seen happen is a de facto alliance between powerful economic interests and narco-traffickers, and the motives were to co-opt institutions and convert Colombia itself into a criminal enterprise," said Sen. Gustavo Petro, who has publicly denounced ties between his colleagues and paramilitary members. "Congress is one of the institutions that's been co-opted."
In the case of Mario Uribe's party, Democratic Colombia, five of six members who held seats in Congress have been accused of collaborating with paramilitary groups, with one member, Sen. Álvaro Garcia, charged with helping to organize a massacre.
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Uribe's allies are eager to see him serve a third four-year term, even though that is prohibited by the constitution. In 2005, the Constitutional Court approved an amendment that allowed him a single re-election in 2006. Many analysts here believe it is impractical for a tarnished Congress to try to amend the constitution or find other ways to spearhead another reelection effort.
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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.
Uribe's allies are eager to see him serve a third four-year term, even though that is prohibited by the constitution. In 2005, the Constitutional Court approved an amendment that allowed him a single re-election in 2006. Many analysts here believe it is impractical for a tarnished Congress to try to amend the constitution or find other ways to spearhead another reelection effort.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042201144.html?nav=rss_world/southamerica
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