Medellin court orders investigation of paramilitary financiers
Medellin court orders investigation of paramilitary financiers
posted by Adriaan Alsema
Jul 3, 2013
A Medellin court has ordered Colombia’s Prosecutor General to investigate which businesses and banks were involved in financing the creation of paramilitary group ACCU that later became the AUC which in turn is held responsible for tens of thousands of human rights violations, reported investigative website Verdad Abierta Wednesday.
According to the website that investigates paramilitary violence in Colombia, Medellin’s Peace and Justice Tribunal wants to know where the money came from that allowed the late Fidel Castaño to found the paramilitary group in the late 1980s and which financial institutions were involved in the laundering of money generated by the group’s illegal activities.
The AUC that was subsequently founded by Castaño’s brothers Carlos and Vicente grew out to become Colombia’s largest illegal armed group in modern history which controlled most of Colombia’s drug trafficking.
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The private funding of the paramilitary group came to light most prominently when U.S. banana giant Chiquita Brands International was ordered to pay a $25 million fine for financing the AUC between its foundation in 1997 and 2004, when the organization was in the process of demobilizing.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/medellin-court-orders-investigation-of-paramilitary-financiers/
