Carlos Castano, right, with some of his men in northern Colombia in 2001 Photo: AP
Revealed: The Secrets Of Colombia's Murderous
Castaño Brothers -- The Telegraph
Castaño Brothers -- The Telegraph
When their father was killed by Marxist guerrillas, Fidel, Carlos and Vicente Castaño swore revenge. Nearly 30 years and 140,000 victims later, their legacy of violence lives on. Jeremy McDermott, who has followed the brothers' trail of terror across Colombia for more than a decade, reveals the secrets of the country's most feared criminal family
I have been queuing outside Itagui prison on the outskirts of Medellín every other Saturday. Housed inside the maximum-security prison in Colombia's Antioquia province are some of the world's most prolific mass murderers and drug lords.
Each weekend I come here to try to see a man who blends both of those criminal 'qualities'. Hebert Veloza was the right-hand man and chief assassin to Vicente Castaño, one of three brothers who built up Colombia's illegal paramilitary army, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), that in 2006 demobilised more than 30,000 fighters.
Investigations into the bloodbath that the AUC unleashed across Colombia is still under investigation, but the list of victims exceeds 140,000. Hebert Veloza has admitted to personally carrying out 1,000 of them.
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My Comment:A fascinating summary on the bloody history of Colombia.