Colombian paramilitary chief to be sent to U.S. for trial

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Wednesday that he would extradite the first former paramilitary warlord to face U.S. justice after he violated a government peace deal by ordering crimes from his prison cell.

Colombia’s Supreme Court earlier authorized Carlos Mario Jimenez to be sent to the United States for trial on drug-running and other charges.

Under the Colombian peace deal, paramilitary bosses had their U.S. extradition warrants suspended and were given shortened prison terms provided they surrendered, confessed to any killings and pledged to give up crime and compensate their victims.

“The government has announced this decision and intends to fulfill it,” Uribe said when asked by reporters about the court ruling. “It is simple: Those who comply with their obligations . . . will not be at risk.”

He said the extradition order was already being processed through the Interior Ministry and the president’s judicial office.

Violence has eased under Uribe as his U.S.-backed military regains regions once under the control of rebels or illegal paramilitaries. The main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been forced into remote areas.

Set up by rich landlords in the 1980s, the paramilitaries were initially a response to rebels in areas where government forces were scarce. But they evolved into drug gangs that took over land and massacred peasants, sometimes in league with state forces.

Jimenez, known by the nickname “Macaco,” once led the Central Bolivar Bloc, one of the most powerful paramilitary gangs. He was expelled from the peace agreement in August when authorities charged that he had violated its terms.

Under Uribe’s government, more than 30,000 paramilitary fighters have demobilized in a program that the president credits in part for the drop in violence and kidnappings.

But human rights groups contend that Uribe has been too lenient with paramilitary commanders. Critics say militia bosses have kept their criminal empires intact and failed to confess and compensate victims.

Uribe is also facing a scandal linking some of his lawmaker allies to paramilitary death squads. Dozens of legislators and other politicians have been jailed and are under investigation for suspected ties to the militia commanders.