Via Reuters: Reuters AlertNet - Second governor jailed in Colombia militia probe

The governor of a Colombian province handed himself over to prosecutors on Thursday shortly after he was ordered arrested as part of an investigation into ties between politicians and paramilitary death squads.

Hernando Molina is the second governor jailed in the probe that is forcing President Alvaro Uribe to defend his government over charges some of his allies once conspired with militia commanders before they demobilized under a peace deal.

Prosecutors have so far imprisoned 13 lawmakers on charges they colluded with rightist paramilitaries who massacred and controlled swaths of Colombia in the name of countering rebels who are still fighting Latin America’s oldest insurgency.

And the story continues to grow…

Molina is governor of Cesar, which is on the Venezuelan border. Of the politicians arrested (both current and former) in regards to the parapolitics scandal, the preponderance have come from Cesar, Cordoba, Magdalena and Sucre, all in north and northeast Colombia. The current governor of Magdalena is in custody, as is a former governor of Sucre. Numerous Senators from the departments in question are also in jail.

Molina ran unopposed for the position in 2024 as the Liberal Party’s candidate. The likelihood is that other candidates were intimidated into not running by paramilitary groups.

It is worth noting that his matronymic (mother’s last name) is Araújo, which is almost certainly the same Araújo family that has already seen numerous arrests (including a Senator from Cesar and his father, a former Senator).

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