RaĂșl HasbĂșn, alias Pedro Bonito, a banana plantation owner turned paramilitary chieftain, gave preliminary testimony in MedellĂn about his participation in several massacres, including against the Peace Community [of San JosĂ© de ApartadĂł]. Massacres were a practice to ensure control of perceived guerrilla-controlled areas, and were seen as a mean to do business in the UrabĂĄ region. In his preliminary testimony on July 23, HasbĂșn implicated the former Army Fourth Brigade commander, Gen. Alfonso Manosalva FlĂłrez, and said paramilitary meetings occurred at the brigade headquarters. [La FM, MedellĂn; Semana, BogotĂĄ, July 24]
From Colombia Peace News, Fellowship of Reconciliation, July 2008
See our last post on the paramilitary terror and citizen peace initiatives in Colombia.
