Paramilitaries Use Aircraft
Defensorķa del Pueblo
Army Witness Arrested
On Feb. 14, Colombian police arrested professional soldier Oswaldo de Jesus Giraldo Yepes in Yarumal, Antioquia department. Giraldo was sought by authorities as a primary witness in the case against retired general Rito Alejo del Rio. Del Rio is charged with having formed paramilitary groups in the region of Uraba from 1995 to 1997, while he was the commander of the 17th Brigade there. In statements to authorities following his arrest, Giraldo said that while serving as Del Rio's bodyguard he witnessed numerous incidents in which paramilitaries entered the 17th Brigade's headquarters and met with military commanders. Giraldo was ordered arrested last July 23, the same day Del Rio was arrested in Bogota. Del Rio was freed on Aug. 5, but the investigation against him was reopened on Dec. 5. Del Rio is a graduate of the US Army School of the Americas (SOA). [El Tiempo (Bogota) 2/15/02; SOA Watch Update 2/15/02]
From the Weekly News Update on the Americas (ISSN 1084-922X), published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499, wnu@igc.org.
Del Rio, like thousands of others, are the result of a terrorist institution created by the U.S. to promote and maintain DEMOCRACY..ha! The School of the Americas has trained killing machines and then has unleashed them on the civilian populations of Latin-America. The beast, hungry for power, has devoured every puppy who has dared challenge its authority. We call this Democracy?...I think not!