Former Paramilitary Convicted for Murder of Indigenous Man of Kankuamo Cabildo

On March 20, the Attorney General's Office announced in a statement that after nine years, it obtained a conviction against Hermes de Jesús Nevado Cantillo, a former member of the northern bloc of the extinct self-defense groups, for the murder of four indigenous people, including the mammo of the Kankuamo council, Abel Francisco Alvarado Maestre. The events took place on December 8, 2002, in the district of Atánquez, in Valledupar, in the department of Cesar.

“In their criminal journey, this group retained the spiritual leader and murdered a farmer, identified as Alfredo Antonio Borrego. Later, he killed a person who was in the market, named José Manuel Cáceres Rodríguez; and a farmer, Franklin Manuel Arias Arias”, the accusing body's description of the facts reads.

According to the information on the case, after presenting the strong and irrefutable arguments of the case, the former member of the AUC accepted his fault and that is how he was subsequently given the corresponding conviction.

“Given the strength of the prosecution's arguments, Nevado Cantillo accepted his participation in the raid and the murders, and he submitted to an early sentence. In this regard, a specialized criminal judge from Valledupar (Cesar) sentenced him to 26 years and seven months in prison for the crime of homicide in a protected person”, noted the Prosecutor's Office, adding that he will have to pay a fine of 4,120 statutory minimum monthly salaries in force.

Recall that the northern bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, as the paramilitary group called itself, had a presence in Cesar, Magdalena, La Guajira and Atlántico, and occasionally operated in the departments of Córdoba, Sucre, Santander, Norte de Santander and Bolivar.

According to figures from the Justice and Peace Unit of the Attorney General's Office, the North Bloc committed 333 massacres under the command of its commander Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, alias “Jorge 40″ with the help of Salvatore Mancuso, in four departments of the Colombian Caribbean region. In other words, he was responsible for some 20,000 criminal acts that affected more than 25,000 people.

New insurance measure against Salvatore Mancuso for 1,720 crimes

Salvatore Mancuso already has 16 insurance measures. The most recent of these was imposed by the Justice and Peace Chamber of the Barranquilla Superior Court, for the 1,720 crimes committed between 1992 and 2004 in different departments of the country. According to what he is accused, he is involved in crimes related to homicides in protected persons, enforced disappearances and forced displacement in the departments of Antioquia, Atlántico, Bolivar, Cesar, Córdoba, Magdalena, Norte de Santander, Santander and Sucre.

“This is one of the many decisions that have been taken, this time it is number 17 related to the córdoba bloc of the self-defense units of Colombia. Crimes committed by this block between 1992 and 2004 were analyzed,” said the judge of the Chamber of Justice and Peace of Barranquilla Carlos Pérez.

The magistrate reported that the Justice and Peace Chamber of the Barranquilla High Court refrained from imposing measures for another 67 displacements in 1999 and 4 homicides, since it was not proven that Mancuso had leadership in those areas. “Firstly, it was excluded from a displacement recorded in Tierralta, Córdoba, this was an operation that involved the participation of the 'Elmer Cardenas' and 'Bananero' Blocks, under the direction of 'Casa Castaño', specifically Vicente Castaño Gil,” the magistrate pointed out.

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