LatinNews Daily - 19 May 2011

COLOMBIA: On 9 October a court in Miami sentenced two Colombian paramilitary leaders to 24 and 21 years in prison after they were convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine to the US. Ramiro Vanoy Ramí­rez and Javier Lindo, known as "Cuco Vanoy" and "Gordolindo" respectively, are the first former paramilitary leaders to be sentenced by the US. They belong to a group of 14 leaders of the demobilised paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) that were extradited to the US on 13 May. Vanoy and Lindo received longer prison terms than had been recommended by the federal prosecutors. The prosecutors had suggested sentencing them to 19 and 17 years in prison respectively. One of the defence lawyers said that Vanoy was now considering ceasing to collaborate with the Colombian government's Justice and Peace process in Colombia. This allowed the paramilitaries to demobilise on the condition that group members confessed crimes that they had committed. The two former paramilitary leaders, who are also accused in Colombia of various crimes including homicide, pleaded guilty in Miami. Lindo was leader of the Bloque Pací­fico, one of the largest AUC blocks. Meanwhile, Vanoy, was in charge an army of almost a thousand men in Colombia's eastern region.