The Fiscalia, the Colombian national prosecutor's office, has released a final report on the scandal surrounding a laptop siezed from Rodrigo Tovar Pupo (alias "Jorge 40") [1], leader of the Northern Bloc of the paramilitary Colombian Self-Defense Forces (AUC), revealing widespread control of the political system in northern Colombia by the officially outlawed paramilitaries.
In addition to detailed accounts of narco-trafficking and political assassinations in the northern departments of Magdalena, La Guajira, Córdoba and Cesar, the computer also revealed a Jan. 6, 2006 "meeting with politicians from Sucre y Bolívar, to support candidates in the elections to be held in March and to consolidate political and military power in Sucre and Bolívar with a new group to be called the Social Front for Peace in Sucre y Bolívar, led by 'Antonio' and 'Gonzalo', under the orders of Jorge 40." "Antonio" is a code-name for Tovar himself, and "Gonzalo" was apparently a man chosen as his political boss for the region. The computer document also refered to a "new military project" for the region at a time when the AUC was ostensibly demobilizing. Four Sucre department deputies have been arrested in the scandal. (El Tiempo [2], Bogota, Oct. 9) Tovar surrendered to authorities last month at La Mesa in Cesar department, where his fighters are confined as a part of the demobilization process (El Tiempo [3], Sept. 5)
See our last post on Colombia [4].
