COLOMBIAN MAYOR'S 2003 DEATH DETAILED

A Paramilitary Boss' Testimony Underscores Militias' Grip on
Political and Business Life in the Nation.

SINCELEJO, COLOMBIA -- This is the chronicle of a death foretold.

Mayor Eudaldo "Tito" Diaz knew he was a marked man. He had resisted
right-wing paramilitary fighters in El Roble, a town in the northern
state of Sucre, and the assassins had him in their sights. In a town
hall meeting, he confronted Colombian President Alvaro Uribe,
grabbing the microphone and warning that he was going to be killed.

Two months later, Diaz was seized by a dozen men in several cars,
apparently betrayed by members of his personal security team.

He was taken to the notorious paramilitary "concentration camp," a
ranch called El Palmar where several mass graves have been found. He
was tortured for five days before being shot to death.

The assassination of Diaz, a 47-year-old doctor, affords a glimpse of
the nightmare that war-torn Colombia has experienced for decades. The
nation relived the nightmare this month with the testimony of
paramilitary capo Salvatore Mancuso, as he confessed to drug
trafficking, mass murder, extortion and usurping vast tracts of land
- -- all with the help of corrupt politicians.

In the four northern states, including Sucre, that Mancuso
controlled, politicos who resisted were ruthlessly cut down. Diaz
became one of the victims in April 2003.

"My father died wanting a better country, where mafias can't traffic
in drugs and loot cities, where innocent people aren't killed at the
whim of politicians to perpetuate themselves in power," said Juan
David Diaz, the late mayor's 28-year-old son, who also is a doctor
and who now heads the local victims rights group Movement of Victims
of State Crimes, based here in Sucre's capital.

Tell-All Testimony

In his tell-all session before a special tribunal, Mancuso was the
first in a parade of paramilitary leaders expected to testify before
a special court to comply with terms of Colombia's peace process and
exempt themselves from extradition to the United States.

Tales of atrocities committed by paramilitaries and left-wing rebels
are nothing new in Colombia after four decades of civil war, and the
nation will probably hear many more such accounts in the coming
months as other paramilitary leaders appear in court.

But the first-person account from Mancuso, reading calmly from a
laptop computer and dressed impeccably in expensive-looking business
suits, added a special note of horror. As he ticked off the names of
dozens of politicians he controlled and of the businessmen he
extorted for financial support, the extent to which the
paramilitaries' tentacles reached into Colombia's political and
business life became vividly evident.

Mancuso completed his testimony in the same week that arrest warrants
were issued for five more Colombian Congress members, nearly all
Uribe supporters, for alleged dealings with the illegal right-wing
militias. That brought the number of lawmakers behind bars to 13, all
but one of whom are Uribe supporters. Vice President Francisco Santos
said this month that the number could go as high as 40.

The ripples from the arrests and Mancuso's testimony reached all the
way to Washington, where Congress since 2000 has approved more than
$5 billion in anti-drug and counter-terrorism aid under Plan Colombia.

Although the crimes in question happened years ago, observers say the
month's events have worsened the odds for a U.S.-Colombia free-trade
agreement, thrown a shadow over Plan Colombia and lessened confidence in Uribe.

The right-wing militias were formed by ranchers as self-defense
groups to face down leftist rebel groups. But they have morphed into
criminal gangs that killed, plundered and trafficked in drugs.

Mancuso testified as part of the demobilization process that has seen
31,000 militia members lay down their arms. He and the other
paramilitary leaders expect light sentences in exchange for admitting
all of their atrocities, making reparations and renouncing their
criminal enterprises. But, as recently leaked transcripts of wiretaps
of the jailed leaders seem to show, many continue managing their
criminal networks from their jail cells.

Mancuso and other paramilitary leaders had numerous ways of financing
their military operations and enriching themselves. Drug trafficking
was the principal method, supplying 70% of the money paramilitaries
generated, the late paramilitary leader Carlos Castano once said.
They also shook down all of the businesses in their zones of
influence, from banana plantations to taxi drivers, for monthly
protection payments, or "vaccinations."

Through corrupt politicians at the state and national level, Mancuso
and other paramilitary leaders took control of state lotteries and
regional public works projects, which they systematically looted or
took kickbacks from. In return, politicians who carried their water
were assured of victory at the polls through intimidation of
potential rivals and of voters.

Diaz ran for mayor with plans to improve the quality of life of the
people of El Roble with better healthcare, education and public
works. But soon after his election, paramilitaries, through corrupt
politicians, began making demands, including the right to pick the
town treasurer and directors of health, education and public works,
said the younger Diaz.

By controlling those posts, Mancuso and his minions could loot the
bulk of El Roble's $1-million annual budget plus tens of thousands
more dollars in health funds transferred from the national
government. Diaz rejected the demands.

"The paramilitaries wanted all the resources that the town had to
progress. But my father couldn't just leave the town in misery," Diaz
said. "He was the only mayor of Sucre to resist, and so is the only
mayor to be killed in the last several years."

Previous Complaint

Mayor Diaz had complained to Uribe on two occasions that his life was
in danger, first in December 2002, saying that the paramilitaries had
the support of Sucre Gov. Salvador Arana, now a fugitive wanted on
paramilitary corruption charges.

Diaz confronted Uribe a second time at the town hall meeting in
February 2003. He took over the microphone, denounced the governor
and other officials for being in league with the paramilitary forces,
and warned that he would soon be killed for speaking out.

According to those present, he spoke for 10 minutes and continued
even though a bell rang twice signaling that his time was up. He
finally ceded the floor when Uribe told his director of town hall
meetings to launch an investigation.

Uribe previously had sent 2,000 additional troops to El Roble because
it straddles drug-trafficking routes.

Before killing him, Diaz's assassins made him sign several blank
orders authorizing fake public works projects in El Roble -- another
way paramilitaries loot small towns' treasuries.

"In the end, they got what they wanted," his son said. "But they had
to kill him first."