The violence that Uribe tried to cover up with fraud and bribery

[Judi Lynn]

by Adriaan Alsema | Jul 28, 2025

The fraud and bribery practices of Colombia’s far-right former President Alvaro Uribe failed to obstruct mounting criminal investigations into his family’s decades-long ties to organized crime.

These criminal investigations are mainly due to the Uribe Clan’s alleged ties to paramilitary groups that killed thousands of people in the former president’s native Antioquia province alone.

In particular, Uribe tried to obstruct investigations into his family’s role in the creation of the 12 Apostles and Bloque Metro paramilitary groups between 1992 and 1997.

Both groups were allegedly created in the Antioquia province under the leadership of the former president’s brother, Santiago Uribe, and other associates of the Medellin Cartel.

According to the prosecution of war crimes tribunal JEP, Santiago Uribe was the commander of the 12 Apostles, which assassinated at least 525 people in northern Antioquia between 1992 and 1996.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/the-violence-that-uribe-tried-to-cover-up-with-fraud-and-bribery/

[UpInArms]

1. Uribe is such a terrible person

You reminded me of how much GWB liked him

https://banderasnews.com/0803/edat-narcopolitics.htm

George W. Bush's strategy of countering Venezuela's leftist president Hugo Chávez by strengthening ties to Colombia's rightist government has been undercut by fresh evidence of high-level drug corruption and human rights violations implicating President Alvaro Uribe's inner circle.

These new allegations about Colombia's narco-politics have tarnished Uribe's reputation just as Bush has been showcasing the Harvard- and Oxford-educated politician as a paragon of democratic values and an alternative to the firebrand Chávez, who has used Venezuela's oil wealth to finance social programs for the poor across the region.

Despite the corruption disclosures - and Uribe's failure to stem Colombian cocaine smuggling to the United States - the Bush administration continues to shower Uribe's government with trade incentives and billions of dollars in military and development aid.

With other regional leaders unwilling to side with the United States against Chávez, Bush may see little alternative but to stay the course with the 55-year-old Uribe and hope Colombia's corruption doesn't draw too much attention in the United States or across South America.

(This article is from 2008)

[Judi Lynn]

2. Best friends forever!