Colombian Officials Probe Uribe Allies In His Home State

Sen. Uribe heads a party allied with the president, Democratic Colombia, which had five lawmakers in Congress until investigators began uncovering links its members had with death squads. Two of them -- Sen. Álvaro García and Rep. Eric Morris -- are now in jail. A third, Sen. Miguel Alfonso de la Espriella, is being investigated by the court for having been among a group of 11 lawmakers to sign a pact with paramilitary members in 2001 that called for them to "re-found the fatherland."

The investigation, though, goes well beyond Sen. Uribe, officials in the court said. "We're interested in everything," an official said.

President Uribe has repeatedly said he supports the investigations. But the developments are troubling for his government, which has received more than $4 billion in U.S. aid to fight drugs and guerrillas since his election in 2002.

Since the so-called para-politics scandal erupted last year, the court and Attorney General Mario Iguaran have rooted out intimate details of how members of Congress, governors and mayors in six coastal states orchestrated fraudulent elections with paramilitary commanders and then went about infiltrating and stealing from hospitals and other public institutions while assassinating hundreds of adversaries. In addition to the eight members of Congress who have been jailed, a former congresswoman is behind bars, and nearly 20 current and former members of Congress are under investigation.

Most of the lawmakers were allies of President Uribe. They overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment that permitted him to run for reelection in 2006. They also approved a law governing the disarmament of paramilitary groups that was considered a near amnesty by the United Nations. Colombia 's Constitutional Court later struck down several provisions of that law, making it far tougher.

Now the investigation is veering toward Colombia's heartland. "There is evidence in other [states], including Antioquia," a court official said. "The court is moving steadily, without pause, on that."

The focus, by investigators from the court and the attorney general's office, is the eastern states of Meta, Santander, North Santander and Casanare. That brings to 11 the number of states -- a third of the country -- where evidence has shown close collaboration between politicians and paramilitary commanders..

Six mayors from Casanare, home to foreign oil-drilling projects, were removed from their positions in recent days. In Cucuta, capital of North Santander, Mayor Ramiro Suarez is under investigation for, among other things, allegedly ordering the murder of a senior official in that state.

But Antioquia, which includes Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city and the center of industry, is the big target. Investigators want to show how the paramilitary members ensured that allies won congressional seats or remained in power. "It's about pacts between paramilitaries and politicians," said the court official.

Myles Frechette, a former U.S. ambassador here who is supportive of many of Uribe's policies, said that the investigation in Antioquia is "going to be very uncomfortable for the obvious reason, that the president is from there." Uribe, when he was governor, spearheaded the creation of legal vigilante groups in Antioquia, called Convivirs, which later morphed into paramilitary organizations.

Frechette, who at the time had warned the Colombian government against creating the Convivirs, said turning the investigation toward Antioquia is "an absolutely indispensable step."

"This thing should be pursued right to the end because if it is not, it's going to leave some clouds there," he said.

Those under investigation, though, have said that the process has turned into a political witch hunt. Sen. Quintero, in a telephone interview, steadfastly denied accusations that he and others gained higher office with the help of a powerful paramilitary warlord known in Colombia as "the German" -- an allegation first reported by El Espectador, a Bogota newspaper.

Quintero, who is close to President Uribe, said that those who are making the accusations are simply trying to discredit the president's security policies, which have been recognized as having eroded support for guerrillas and restoring calm in many parts of the country.

"They're looking to harm this process that the country is now going through," he said.