Former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso said that AUC received help from the police and the military in massacre

Salvatore Mancuso, former paramilitary leader who was extradited to the U.S., declared today via satellite as part of the Justice and Peace agreements , that the AUC received logistical help from the Colombian national police and the military during the massacre that took place in El Aro, in the state of Antioquia in December of 1997, where 15 people were murdered. He named two generals giving only their last names, Manosalva and Ospina, and did not go deeper into the issue.

He also said that during the fights with the guerillas, who were supposedly keeping some of their leaders in that area, three helicopters entered the zone. One belonging to the military, another of the governor’s office in Antioquia, and a third one belonging to the Farc guerrillas. He said that even though the government secretary, the late Pedro Juan Moreno, knew about the operation, the governor at that time, Álvaro Uribe, had no idea and no contact with the paramilitaries.