Salvatore Mancuso: Difference between revisions

|nickname="'''el Mono Mancuso'''"<br/>"'''Santander Lozada'''" <br/> "'''Triple Cero'''"

|birth_place= [[Montería]], [[Córdoba Department|Córdoba]]<br/> [[Colombia]]

|allegiance=[[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) <br/>[[paramilitarism in Colombia|Paramilitarism]]<br/> [[Narcotrafficking in Colombia|Narcotrafficking]]

|battles= [[Cold War]]/[[War on drugs]]

'''Salvatore Mancuso Gómez''', also known as "'''el Mono Mancuso'''", "'''Santander Lozada'''" or "'''Triple Cero'''" (i.e. "Triple Zero", or, "000"), among other names (born August 17, 1964 in [[Montería]], [[Córdoba Department|Córdoba]]) is a [[Colombian people|Colombian]] [[paramilitary]] leader, once second in command of the [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] (AUC) paramilitary group. The paramilitary groups commanded by Mancuso fought the guerrillas (mainly [[Popular Liberation Army|EPL]], [[FARC]] and [[ELN Colombia|ELN]]), and financed their activities by receiving donations from land owners, drug trafficking, extortions and robbery.

The AUC committed numerous atrocities and massacres against allegedpresumed guerrilla members and the civilian population. Mancuso was initially jailed in a Maximum Security Prison in [[Itagüí]], [[Antioquia Department|Antioquia]] after a peace process that led to his demobilization and then transferred to a prison in the city of [[Cúcuta]] to help establish the whereabouts of some of the victims. In a surprise move by the Colombian government, Mancuso, along with 13 other top members of the [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia|AUC]] was extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.<ref>{{cite news

His name has been involved in the command of at least eight paramilitary groups that perpetrated several massacres such as [[Mapiripán Massacre|Mapiripán]]. On September 24, 2002 Salvatore Mancuso and [[Juan Carlos Sierra Ramirez]] were formally charged by the Colombian and the American governments for narcotrafficking.<ref>US Department of Justice: [httphttps://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2002/092402aucindictmentpressconference.htm Remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroft - AUC Indictment Press Conference]</ref> The US Government applied for his extradition to the United States in order to be judged by an American court. Marcuso was so unconcerned about it that he attended the demobilization ceremony of the "[[Bloque Bananero]]"'s demobilization, following the peace process with the Colombian State on November 24, 2004. The extradition application was initially accepted by [[government of Colombia]], but soon was suspended to complete the demobilization process of the AUC. Mancuso demobilized officially and surrendered to the Colombian authorities in the demobilization ceremony of the "[[Bloque Catatumbo]]"'s demobilization ceremony on December 10, 2006. Gonzo author Matthew Thompson describes his 2006 meeting with Mancuso in Montería in ''My Colombian Death'' (2008).

During his Colombian imprisonment, Mancuso had his own website and criticized the Colombian government, led by [[Álvaro Uribe Vélez]] on numerous occasions. Many politicians, members of the National Army and government officials, he claimed, had [[Colombian parapolitics scandal|links with the AUC]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://colombiareports.com/2008/04/23/paramilitaries-infiltrated-all-entities-of-the-government-says-mancuso/ |title=Paramilitaries infiltrated all entities of the government, says Mancuso |date=April 23, 2008 |publisher=Colombia Reports |accessdateaccess-date=2008-05-14 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426070317/http://colombiareports.com/2008/04/23/paramilitaries-infiltrated-all-entities-of-the-government-says-mancuso/ |archivedatearchive-date=April 26, 2008 }}</ref>

The National Movement of State Crimes, a coalition of several victim organizations that have suffered from state or paramilitary violence, has asked "to return the paramilitary chiefs to the Colombian authorities so they may be processed by the ordinary justice system and not under the framework of the Law of Justice and Peace, since this framework benefits the victimizers and not the victims, since they have not told all of the truth, have not made comprehensive reparations to the victims, and have not dismantled their criminal structures." <ref name = "ccajar">[http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340#nb4 Extradition Cut Short] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613230005/http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/article.php3?id_article=1340#nb4 |date=2008-06-13 }} ‘’CCAJAR’’ May 27, 2008</ref>

The Inter-American Commission stated that this "affects the Colombian State's obligation to guarantee victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparations for the crimes committed by the paramilitary groups. The extradition impedes the investigation and prosecution of such grave crimes through the avenues established by the Justice and Peace Law in Colombia and through the Colombian justice system's regular criminal procedures. It also closes the door to the possibility that victims can participate directly in the search for truth about crimes committed during the conflict, and limits access to reparations for damages that were caused. This action also interferes with efforts to determine links between agents of the State and these paramilitary leaders." <ref name = "ccajar"/> A 2016 investigation by the New York Times found that the extradited paramilitaries, including Mancuso, had been given special treatment by the US justice system, serving shorter sentences than would be expected for drug-trafficking offences of that magnitude; a number of judges and prosecutors involved in trying the cases publicly stated their admiration for the political cause of the AUC, which they saw as a mitigating factor.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/world/americas/colombia-cocaine-human-rights.html|title=The Secret History of Colombia's Paramilitaries and the U.S. War on Drugs|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 September 2016|last1=Sontag|first1=Deborah}}</ref>

After his extradition to the United States, Colombian paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso has continued to testify via satellite as part of the Justice and Peace process. On November 18, 2008, [[Revista Semana]] reported on Mancuso's declarations about the 1997 [[El Aro massacre]], in which he stated that the AUC had received logistical help from the Colombian military and police.<ref>{{cite news

Mancuso testified that in the early 2000s, the AUC had met with anti-Chavez factions in Venezuela to discuss the AUC possibly operating against the Chavez government.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Are Colombian paramilitary groups active in Venezuela?|url = http://colombiareports.com/are-colombian-paramilitary-groups-active-in-venezuela/|website = colombiareports.com| date=28 September 2015 |accessdate = 2016-01-04}}</ref>

On June 5, 2008, Severalseveral Colombian media outlets reported police in [[Montería]] found a suitcase allegedly containing Mancuso's shadow administration, revealing more property owned by the warlord through secret associates.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://colombiareports.com/2008/06/05/authorities-find-secret-administration-of-mancuso// |title=Authorities find secret administration of Mancuso |date=June 5, 2008 |publisher=Colombia Reports }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

* [[El AroColombian massacreconflict]]

* {{esin iconlang|es}} [http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2007-05-16/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3558144.html EL TIEMPO; A cuatro generales y a la cúpula del Gobierno señaló Salvatore Mancuso en su versión libre]

* [http://www.fiscalia.gov.co/justiciapaz/versiones%20citacion/salvatorremancuso.html Official announcement of Salvatore Mancuso trial]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}