President defends VP, minister, accused of conspiring with militias
(17 May 2007) FILE: Bogota, October 2006 1. Various of Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos in his office Bogota, 16 May 2007 2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish): Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia: "My government and I would like to reiterate our trust in the vice-president and the rest of the cabinet's moral integrity. We would also like to reiterate our commitment towards the peace process." FILE: Bogota, December 2006 3. Uribe speaking at a military event with Vice-President Francisco Santos seated 4. Mid of Uribe and Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos (on right) Bogota, Colombia - 16 May, 2007 5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia: "Last week, two members of the reconciliation team came to me with a proposal from Itagui (referring to Itagui prison). They asked me to accept the confession of the truth in two parts. They wanted the truth about their crimes to be presented to judicial authorities but the truth about those involved to be presented to the Catholic Church. I said, I would not accept these terms because I promised to follow Colombia's laws under oath twice. The only thing that can reconcile a society is for them to know the truth about the tragedy it suffered. I also said any mention of the president's name would have to be made openly before the Colombian people and the judicial authorities." FILE: Tolima, September 2006 6. Various of Vice-President Francisco Santos at an event STORYLINE: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe defended his vice president and defence minister on Wednesday against a jailed former paramilitary commander's accusations that they conspired with illegal right-wing militias in the late 1990s. "My government and I would like to reiterate our trust in the vice-president and the rest of the cabinet's moral integrity," Uribe said at a media conference. Jailed warlord Salvatore Mancuso testified on Tuesday that Vice President Francisco Santos proposed creating paramilitary bloc in the province surrounding the capital Bogota, and that Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos asked for paramilitary help in an alleged plot to overthrow the former President Ernesto Samper, who served from 1994-98. The Vice-President and Defence Minister, who are cousins, belong to one of Colombia's most powerful political families. The allegations complicate the US-allied president's efforts to deal with a widening political firestorm over the murderous militias' corrupting influence in Colombian politics and commerce. Mancuso also said the men were the backers of the murderous paramilitary project that made killing fields out of rural Colombia. At the time, the officials were private citizens but well-known public figures. Francisco Santos was an editor at the country's leading newspaper, El Tiempo. Both the Santos cousins have acknowledged meeting with paramilitary leaders back then, but say it was only to promote peace talks. In media interviews last week, the warlord promised to expose how multi-national companies including all banana exporters helped bankroll the paramilitaries. During the conference on Wednesday, Uribe said the Colombian people deserved to know the truth behind what happened. "The only thing that can reconcile a society is for them to know the truth about the tragedy it suffered. I also said any mention of the President's name would have to be made openly before the Colombian people and the judicial authorities," he said. But Uribe is now on the defensive as US Democrats question whether to maintain that support, given growing evidence that the paramilitary Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
