“(Alvaro) Uribe’s government was a criminal environment and it dedicated itself to all manner of illegal acts.” Ivan Cepeda a leftist senator in Colombia

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA—In March 2006, 62 fighters from the Cacica Gaitana Front of Colombia’s FARC guerrillas handed in their weapons in the largest rebel demobilization in 50 years of war, and a major publicity coup for the government of then-President Alvaro Uribe. There was just one problem: the Cacica Gaitana Front never existed.

The “demobilization” was initially heralded as proof that the strongman president — who, during his two terms between 2002 and 2010, drove back Colombia’s Marxist insurgencies with a military offensive — could deliver peace as well as war. But what has emerged since is instead a bizarre tale of fake guerrillas, corruption and deceit that has led investigators to the door of Uribe’s high commissioner for peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo.

Nine years on from the events of 2006, and while the government of Uribe’s successor, President Juan Manuel Santos, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are currently edging toward a historic peace agreement, Restrepo has fled Colombia and reportedly been granted political asylum in Canada. Canadian officials wouldn’t confirm or deny this, but an unofficial source with knowledge of these matters confirmed to the Star that he did get asylum.

Doubts about the veracity of the Cacica Gaitana demobilization surfaced almost immediately due to the “guerrillas” clean new uniforms, and the old and broken weapons they turned over to the authorities. However, details about the scam did not emerge until 2011, when radio news channel La FM obtained witness testimonies from an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

According to the witnesses, most of those who took part in the ceremony were not fighters but specially recruited homeless and unemployed people. They claimed the recruits were taken to a month-long training camp, where ex-guerrillas schooled them in weapons handling, marching formations and how to talk, act and even sing like a FARC guerrilla. The fake guerrillas were paid approximately $250 and told they would have access to the benefits Colombia offers demobilizing fighters.

In January 2012, Restrepo, who in his role as high commissioner was in charge of Colombia’s demobilization program, was issued a court summons to explain the allegations. He never showed. The authorities soon learned he had fled the country 12 days earlier, and they issued an arrest warrant.

While rumours about Restrepo’s whereabouts flew, he was charged in absentia with embezzlement, criminal conspiracy, procedural fraud and the manufacturing, trafficking and possession of arms and uniforms for exclusive military use.

Restrepo maintains he was duped by the former FARC members who organized the demobilization and that he has been dragged into the case by the enemies of Uribe, who want to tarnish the former premier’s reputation. In a recent interview with Blu Radio, Restrepo insisted he was not a fugitive but a refugee seeking asylum from political persecution.

“After the destruction of my public image and (the authorities) treating me like a criminal, my family begged me to not come back, and I listened,” he said.

However, the former guerrillas who have admitted organizing the fraud claim Restrepo played a key role in the fake demobilization, which they say was authorized at the highest levels of government.

“He was instrumental in making this setup a success and presenting it as an achievement of Democratic Security (the Uribe government’s signature security policy),” Felipe Alejandro Salazar, alias “Biofilo,” told Noticias Uno in a 2012 interview.

Despite the testimony against him, Restrepo retains the backing of the still-popular Uribe, who is now an opposition senator with a new political party he founded himself, the Centro Democratico. The party, too, backs Restrepo’s claims to asylum.

“He is completely right (in not returning to Colombia) because the manipulation of the media by justice officials is provoking a sort of public lynching,” said Alfredo Rangel, a Centro Democratico senator and security analyst.

Rangel and other Uribe supporters — known as Uribistas — argue the case is part of a wider campaign of political persecution, which has picked up pace since they emerged as the principal opponents and fiercest critics of the current peace process with the FARC.

“Without any doubt, there are very politicized sectors of the Colombian justice system that have started a campaign of systematic persecution of ex-officials from the government of Alvaro Uribe,” Rangel said.

“The price to pay for our position toward the peace talks is these ideological sectors continuing their persecution of Uribistas.”

However, for Uribe’s opponents, that argument is wearing thin. Restrepo is the third high-level official from the Uribe administration to flee Colombia to avoid criminal charges, while several others are already in prison or facing prosecution for charges ranging from collusion with drug cartels and right-wing paramilitary death squads to corruption. In addition, dozens of Uribista politicians have been prosecuted, and several convicted for collaborating with paramilitary groups — among them, members of Uribe’s family.

Late last month, one of the other two high-level officials who fled the country turned herself in to Colombia’s embassy in Panama. She had earlier been granted asylum, but the decision was overturned by the courts. She was deported to Colombia.

“Uribe’s government was a criminal environment and it dedicated itself to all manner of illegal acts,” said Ivan Cepeda, a leftist senator who has spent years campaigning to bring charges against Uribe and his allies.

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For Cepeda, there is no political persecution, just a criminal case that must be answered. He called on the Canadian government to respect Colombian justice.

“They should deny his application for asylum and deport Mr. Restrepo so he can face the legal process he should face, obviously with guarantees of the right to a defence and due process,” he said.

Restrepo, meanwhile, continues to issue statements from hiding, and has surprised many by calling for the Uribistas to get behind the two-year-old peace process with the FARC. The talks have made unprecedented progress and a final deal is looking ever more likely. However, despite Restrepo’s tentative support, if an agreement is reached, his successor is unlikely to turn to him for advice on demobilizing the estimated 8,000 genuine fighters in the FARC’s ranks.