Drummond Colombia Directors Accused of Funding Paramilitary Groups

Jose Miguel Linares, the Colombian director of U.S-based mining company Drummond Company, Inc., will face charges from Colombia’s attorney general of having funded a paramilitary group that led to the assassination of two union leaders in 2001.

Linares, director of Drummond Colombia since 2012, is being charged alongside his predecessor Augusto Jimenez, who headed the company between 1990 and 2012, for conspiracy to finance the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The two were said to have asked the Northern Bloc of the AUC to provide security for their mining operations in the Cesar Province, per the charging documents.

The office of the attorney general has accused Linares and Jimenez of generating funds for the organization by inflating a contract with food provider Jaime Blanco between 1996 and 2001.

At the time that the alleged crimes occurred, Linares was serving as the vice president of the legal department of Drummond Colombia, the largest thermal coal miner in Colombia with projected exports of more than 30 million tons of coal from the country by the end of the year.

In 2013, Blanco was sentenced to 38 years in prison for his involvement with the AUC related to the assassination of two labor union leaders working for the Drummond organization, and he has cooperated with the nation’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) regarding Drummond’s alleged financial links to the AUC between 1993 and 2001.

Drummond has denied the accusations against Linares and Jimenez in a public statement and expressed support for the executives while claiming that the government is relying on corrupt sources who have been bribed. “These accusations are not supported by credible evidence and are based primarily on false statements by convicted criminals, who received payment for their testimony,” said Drummond Colombia in a statement.

“What exists against Drummond is a cartel of false witnesses, promoted by an American lawyer and Colombian lawyers, who sued the company in the United States but were not successful.” added Drummond. “However, what they have achieved is that these paramilitaries repeat their lies before the prosecutor’s office and the JEP.”

Photo: Drummond coal operations in Colombia. (Photo credit: Drummond Colombia)