Video links Uribe to paramilitaries

In this image made from video with a time stamp of Oct. 31, 2001 and obtained by the AP in June 2007, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, right, is seen shaking hands with a man identified identified by three people familiar with him — including human rights activists, as Fremio Sanchez Carreno, better known as paramilitary leader 'Comandante Esteban'. The person or persons who provided the video to The Associated Press, and who do not wish to be identified for security reasons, said it was recorded during a campaign meeting Uribe held with civic leaders from nearby Barrancabermeja in the city council chambers of the paramilitary stronghold of Puerto Berrio. The place and time of the video could not be confirmed independently. Uribe has denied any connection with the illegal paramilitaries. (AP Photo)

By Anastasia Moloney in Bogotá

Financial Times

Published: June 19 2007

[Editor's Note: Fortunately, the Democratic-controlled House has cut a considerable amount of military aid to Colombia. Nonetheless, given the monstrous character of the people that Colombian President Uribe associates himself with, it's a shame that some Democrats want to work with this guy at all.]

For those who hold high hopes for humanitarianism under Democrats, consider this: A Democratic-controlled House just passed

Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe has been pictured shaking hands with a paramilitary commander wanted for involvement in a massacre during the country’s decades of civil strife.

The release of footage of a 2001 meeting between the two men comes ahead of crucial debates on US aid to the country in Washington this week.

Until now, Mr Uribe had been personally unscathed by the so-called “para-politics” scandal, and no evidence had been published associating him with the outlaw militias.

During his five years as president, Mr Uribe has adamantly denied any links with the country’s rightwing paramilitary groups, who have been responsible for some of the country’s worst human rights abuses.

“I never knew the paramilitaries, I have never been their friend, I have never had contact with them,” said Mr Uribe during a live televised press conference in April.

According to local human rights activists, the video – first made public by the Miami Herald’s Spanish-language paper, el Nuevo Heraldo – shows Mr Uribe greeting a known militia boss, Fremio Sánchez Carreño, at a small meeting during his first presidential election campaign in October 2001.

The video evidence is an embarrassing blow to Mr Uribe as he seeks to secure a beleaguered free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US...

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