Death Squad Leader: I "Funded Uribe"

'Breaking' news today: President Uribe is linked to narcotrafficking paramilitary death squads. We say 'breaking' because, as the below article mentions, these allegations have followed Uribe since early in his political career, and some of us have been noting the fact for some time.

The BBC reports on the most recent development in the so-called 'para-politics' scandal that shows Uribe's complicity in the murders of thousands of Colombians:

A drug lord imprisoned in US has said that he and his illegal paramilitary army funded the 2002 election campaign of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Diego Murillo, aka Don Berna, was one of the heads of the AUC, which demobilised after a peace settlement...

Don Berna was the successor of drug lord Pablo Escobar in the city of Medellin.

He then joined the brutal AUC, or the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, as it fought, often in cahoots with the military, to destroy the Marxist rebels.

The article goes on:

Ever since Mr Uribe started his political career, he has been dogged by accusations of links with right-wing paramilitaries.

During his term as governor of the province of Antioquia the AUC was born, flourished and spread across the country, leading to the deaths of more than 100,000 Colombians.

Currently there are 77 congressmen under investigation for links to the AUC, nine of whom have been condemned.

Almost all are supporters of President Uribe.

Despite the denial, the scandal is unlikely to die quietly as Don Berna has not yet finished delivering his revelations.

We've said it before and will say it again: if this global trade regime is a race-to-the-bottom (and it is!) then Colombia, under a death-squad linked President, is in the running to win.

Eyes on Trade will keep readers posted on further developments.