Former paramilitary leader returned to Colombia following US jailing

Officials hope that Salvatore Mancuso will cooperate by revealing information about hundreds of murders and forced disappearances.

Former Colombian paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso has been repatriated after serving a drug trafficking sentence in the United States.

Salvatore Mancuso arrived at Bogota’s El Dorado airport on Tuesday. Having seen several requests to be sent to Italy, where he also has citizenship, denied, he was quickly taken into police custody, with authorities hoping he would shed light on hundreds of crimes that took place during civil unrest in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Now 59, Mancuso, who arrived on a charter flight carrying dozens of Colombians deported after illegally entering the US, was formerly a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. The paramilitary group, founded by cattle ranchers, fought against left-wing rebels during one of the most violent stretches of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict.

Human rights organisations and government officials hope that he will cooperate with the justice system and provide information about hundreds of crimes.

Mancuso has confessed his co-responsibility for numerous massacres. He has been in prison in the US since 2008 for drug trafficking, and has indicated he is now ready to take on the role of “peace advocate”.