Colombia prosecutors open formal probe into Alvaro Uribe's alleged ties to right-wing militias

Published January 13, 2015

Colombian prosecutors have opened a formal investigation into the brother of former President Alvaro Uribe for allegedly sponsoring a far-right militia.

The probe announced Wednesday stems from accusations by a retired police major that Santiago Uribe formed a death squad in the 1990s in Antioquia state, where his brother was governor.

As president from 2002 to 2010, Alvaro Uribe made peace with the so-called paramilitaries, who committed the bulk of killings in Colombia's long-running war.

More than 80 politicians, most of them allies of Alvaro Uribe, have been imprisoned for criminal conspiracy since 2006 for colluding with paramilitaries.

Alvaro Uribe remains popular and announced this month his candidacy for the Senate in March elections. He is bitterly opposed to efforts to make peace with Colombia's main leftist rebel group.

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