Colombia investigates former President over paramilitary massacres
The Colombian prosecutor's office said Thursday (June 19, 2026) it had launched a probe into influential former President Alvaro Uribe over his alleged links to
The Colombian prosecutor's office said Thursday (June 19, 2026) it had launched a probe into influential former President Alvaro Uribe over his alleged links to massacres by paramilitary groups during the worst years of the country's armed conflict. More than a quarter of a million people were killed during Colombia's six decades of fighting between left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers and the military. Uribe, who ordered an offensive against guerrilla groups during his presidency between 2002 and 2010, has always denied links to paramilitaries.
The right-wing hardliner was sentenced last year to 12 years of house arrest for bribing imprisoned paramilitaries to lie about their alleged links to him. But a Bogota court later overturned the conviction, and the Supreme Court is currently handling the case. The prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday (June 18) it would summon Uribe regarding "events related to the formation of a paramilitary group" in Antioquia in Colombia's northwest during his time as governor there from 1995 to 1997. He is also accused of involvement in massacres by paramilitaries in the villages of La Granja in 1996 and El Aro in 1997.
Uribe is accused of aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime and homicides of protected people. The former President is also accused of involvement in the killing of rights activist Jesus Maria Valle Jaramillo, who was shot dead by suspected members of paramilitary groups in 1998, after denouncing the then-governor's response to the El Aro and La Granja massacres. Uribe confirmed in a post on X that he was summoned for questioning, adding: "Facing this ordeal just hours before the election" -- referring to Sunday's runoff polls that will determine the country's next President.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned Uribe that he was "on the verge of falling into a situation" that he "would not want." The summons against Uribe comes a week after his brother, Santiago Uribe, turned himself in to serve an almost three-decade prison sentence for leading a paramilitary group in the 1990s, the e leader said.
The BriefWire