Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Trial: ‘Ex-Paras’ Testify Amid Witness Bribery Allegations

The trial against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has entered a crucial phase, as more testimonies from former paramilitary leaders add to the accusations against the 2002–2010 President.

Last week, Pablo Hernán Sierra, alias Pipintá, a convicted paramilitary with over 220 sentences, testified virtually from the prison of Cómbita in the region of Boyacá. Once a member of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), Colombia’s main paramilitary organization, Sierra’s testimony resurrected past claims that Uribe and his brother Santiago had ties to paramilitary groups during the 1990s in Antioquia.

Sierra alleged that an estate that belonged to the Uribe family and was later sold, the ‘Hacienda Las Guacharacas’, served as a base for the early groups of the paramilitary and implicated the former president in facilitating the legal foundation of the Convivir group ‘El Cóndor’ while serving as Antioquia’s governor.

The Convivir groups were legal rural security cooperatives created in the 1990s, but many later served as a front or recruitment base for the AUC. They blurred the line between state security and illegal paramilitary activity, facilitating the rise of the AUC across regions like Antioquia.

Sierra also recalled the two interactions he had with Uribe and his interviews with Senator Iván Cepeda, which became key in opening the current (and unprecedented) trial against Uribe.

He explained his reasons for reaching out to Senator Cepeda back in 2011, when Cepeda was serving in the House of Representatives and was a member of the Human Rights Commission. According to Sierra, he asked for his case to be known by Human Rights Watch, hoping to secure protection within the prison system due to the risks he faced after making public allegations against Álvaro Uribe. “I was speaking out against the most powerful man in Colombia in the last 50 years,” he said. Sierra described Cepeda as Uribe’s “number one enemy” and noted that it became common for ‘ex-paras’ (former members of the paramilitary forces) commanders to turn to Cepeda after Uribe ordered their extradition. “Talking to Cepeda became a trend,” he added.

To Sierra’s claims this Monday were added those of other ‘ex-paras’, such as Carlos Enrique Vélez, alias ‘Víctor’, who is imprisoned in Palmira for his crimes as part of several AUC blocs. Vélez claimed that in 2017 he was approached by lawyer Diego Cadena, allegedly acting on behalf of Uribe, and offered a bribe to retract statements that tied Uribe to paramilitary activities. Vélez’s testimony adds to previous accusations from other witnesses stating that Cadena offered payments and legal favors in exchange for altering testimonies in Uribe’s favor. Cadena allegedly made payments and attempted to persuade various imprisoned witnesses around the country, such as Juan Guillermo Monsalve (videos of Cadena’s visit to him at prision La Picota in Bogotá were presented as evidence) and Carlos López, ‘Caliche’.

As more witnesses are expected to appear in the coming weeks—including others formerly involved in the AUC—this trial continues to stir tension in Colombia. The hearings, held before Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia in Bogotá, center on charges of bribery, procedural fraud, and bribery in a judicial proceeding —allegations Uribe has denied since the case began seven years ago.

Headline photo: On Thursday, April 3, 2025, former ‘ex-para’ commander Pablo Hernán Sierra (top right) testified in the trial against former president Alvaro Uribe (Image: Semana / Youtube)