The announcement by President Gustavo Petro to name the former paramilitary chief of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) Salvatore Mancuso, today detained in a migrant center in the United States, as peace manager leaves so far more doubts than certainties.
This Sunday the president assured, via Twitter, as usual, that Mancuso, who was extradited to the United States for drug trafficking, will be appointed peace manager with the aim of continuing the peace process with the paramilitaries that was carried out during the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and that, in Petro’s opinion, has not concluded.
(In addition: Mancuso’s 3 judicial scenarios before the decision to appoint him peace manager)
“The whole truth is not yet known, the farms handed over have been lost in the hands of the State, recycled to new groups that inherited paramilitarism, many victims’ bodies have not yet been found,” the president trilled.
The figure of peace manager would be mainly for Mancuso, who led the paramilitary expansion in Cesar, Magdalena, Montes de María, La Guajira and Norte de Santander, and is accused of being behind some 140 massacres, to act as a facilitator or intermediary between criminal organizations and the Government, with the purpose of achieving the demobilization of people who are part of these structures and, even, the subjugation of the groups in the midst of the “total peace” policy that the Government is advancing.
However, one must wait for the Executive issues the decree that appoints him to know what his specific functions will be.
“Peace managers may have functions to contribute to the truth, Mancuso could help in the search process for the disappeared and in the rapprochement with actors such as the ‘Gulf clan.’ And the peace managers can be in jail because this is not an amnesty or a pardon, it is giving them the possibility that, in the midst of their processes, they support the construction of peace”, said Germán Valencia, professor and researcher at the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Antioquia.
(Also read: Uribe: That Petro appoints Mancuso as peace manager does not matter, what is serious is that he lies)
The Mancuso situation
In May 2008, Salvatore Mancuso was part of a group of 14 former paramilitary chiefs who were extradited to the United States to serve drug trafficking charges, and Almost 3 years ago he finished serving the sentence of the North American justice for that crime, after serving 15 years in prison, but he has not returned to Colombia.
In the country, Mancuso, former commander of the Córdoba, Norte and Catatumbo blocks of the Auc, has two 8-year sentences from Justice and Peace, before which the Prosecutor’s Office accused him of 4,093 acts for hundreds of displacements, disappearances, homicides, among others.
Salvatore Mancuso at the JEP.
For years Colombia has been insisting that Mancuso be extradited so that he can settle his debts of truth and reparation with the victims here. In fact, in a recent interview with EL TIEMPO, the Minister of Justice, Nestor Osuna, reiterated:
“He is requested in extradition and the process is already moving forward. The request is in progress with the US authorities, we are waiting for your response”.
But, although Colombia has requested his shipment, Mancuso has also sought to be sent to Italy instead, since he has Italian ancestry.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO assured in June that the administrative process through which Mancuso is trying to avoid being extradited to Colombia and going to Italy moved again, and it is known that a hearing was scheduled for August 22 in which the final decision could be known.
(You may be interested in: Is it possible to achieve the great “national agreement” that Gustavo Petro summoned to Congress?)
The process of my govt demobilized approximately 35,000 paramilitaries and 18,000 guerrillas. I’m waiting for proof of Mancuso’s slander.
That the PTE names him peace manager does not matter, the serious thing is that he lies and that there is discrimination.
They should give the same status to others…
— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) July 23, 2023
Meanwhile, Mancuso also made moves to try to enter the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a transitional court created after the signing of the peace agreement with the ex-guerrilla of the Farc and which, from the outset, is not competent to judge ex-paramilitaries.
The JEP has already rejected his submission as a civilian third party on two occasions, but it opened an opportunity for him to eventually enter under the figure of “subject materially and functionally incorporated into the Public Force,” that is, someone who acted as a hinge between the paramilitaries and the State forces.
To study his eventual entry under that figure, the justice of the peace heard the former paramilitary chief in a 4-day hearing held in May, in which he asked for various clarifications about his role in the armed conflict.
Right now, the Chamber for the Definition of Legal Situations of the JEP continues to study Mancuso’s petition, what he said at the hearing and what the ex-paramilitary officer subsequently delivered in various documents. The court of the peace asked him for evidence.
(In other news: ‘The country does not know where it is going in terms of security’: Prosecutor Barbosa)
In any case, if you are admitted to the JEP, there are four processes in which the information you provide could be useful.
Rodrigo Londoño and Salvatore Mancuso spoke at the Truth Commission.
The other scenario for Mancuso is his situation with the Colombian ordinary justice system.
In March of this year it was learned that a judge for the execution of sentences from the Justice and Peace Chamber of the Superior Court of Bogotá granted the former paramilitary chief conditional release “on trial” for four years, consider that he had already served the maximum sentence of 8 years that Justice and Peace can impose.
Under that decision, if he returns to Colombia, Mancuso could be released by that process. But we must not forget that this is not the only one he has against the former Auc commander.
(In context: Exclusive: they set an appointment in the United States to define the fate of Salvatore Mancuso)
In fact, in January 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that, once he arrived in the country, Mancuso could not recover his freedom due to an investigation in ordinary justice for money laundering of drug money and conspiracy to commit a crime, crimes that he would have committed after his demobilization. But also, within the framework of the “total peace” policy and the rapprochement with various illegal groups, The Prosecutor’s Office has categorically refused to issue arrest warrants for people who are not part of political groups.
This was the case with the lifting of the arrest warrants that the Government had requested for some leaders of the ‘Gulf clan’, which the accusing body refused to do, arguing that there is currently no legal framework for this, since no law has been approved to bring to justice organized armed structures of high-impact crime without a political nature.
Consulted on the subject, Alejo Vargas, professor of Political Science at the National University and researcher on security, defense and peace, strange that this would be an obstacle for Mancuso, since he was part of a group that does not have political recognition.
“Here we are in a case of submission to justice and the law has not even been approved. The theme is all to be developed. Obviously, this figure of issuing arrest warrants does not have the possibility of applying to organized crime groups without political recognition, which is what would classify in this case. I think that, for now, that will not happen because I first announce that the law is missing, after there is an approval from the Prosecutor’s Office, etc. And that is still far from being realized, ”he explained.
A different case is that of Violeta Arango, ‘Violeta’, investigated for the 2017 attack on the Andino shopping center in Bogotá, and who, under the figure of peace manager, was released and today is part of the government’s negotiating table with the ELN, although she continues to be linked to their judicial process. Her release will be accomplished on the grounds that she belongs to a criminal group with political status, contrary to Mancuso’s situation.
The reactions
One of the first to comment on the head of state’s announcement was former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who said that, beyond his designation, “what is serious is that he lies.”
“They should give the same status to others like ‘Jorge 40’, with 19 years in prison. Notice, I don’t know him. I have asked none of them and I will not ask them to favor me, “the head of the Democratic Center trilled minutes after Petro broke the news.
Senator Ariel Ávila, a key man on peace issues, said, for his part, that “Mancuso has told a lot of truth, but he lacks the ‘para-economy’ thing, that is the great truth that is missing. ‘Jorge 40’, on the other hand, has not said anything. Only hidden and mind”.
In addition, Wilson Arias, senator from the Historical Pact, commented: “Mancuso appointed peace manager so that the truth of paramilitarism, the ‘demobilization’ and its alliances is known. I notice Álvaro Uribe, María Fernanda Cabal and Paloma Valencia and the entire right wing is scared, why is it? The truth runs up their legs.”
For now, it is necessary to wait for the decree that makes the appointment of the former paramilitary chief official, as well as to know if any of the other two cards that are being played come out in his favor. However, different sectors have announced the need for all information to be delivered with evidence; And we must not forget that he can be a peace manager even in prison, since the figure does not affect his judicial processes.
MARIA ISABEL ORTIZ
JUSTICE WRITING
MATTHEW GARCIA
POLITICAL WRITING
