During his presidency, Uribe gained notoriety for his military campaigns against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), insisting he had no connections to paramilitary forces. Reacting to the verdict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the judicial process, asserting that Uribe's only wrongdoing was defending Colombia against insurgents. This conviction comes more than a decade after initial allegations surfaced against him in 2012, when Uribe accused leftist senator Ivan Cepeda of conspiring to link him to paramilitary activity.
The Supreme Court of Colombia later shifted focus, investigating Uribe for attempting to manipulate testimonies from former fighters. The paramilitary groups in question first appeared in the 1980s, unleashing a cycle of violence in Colombia. While the Uribe administration garnered support from Washington for its hardline stance against Farc rebels, his presidency remains contentious due to ongoing issues of inequality and violence in the country, despite a peace agreement enacted by his successor in 2016.
The Supreme Court of Colombia later shifted focus, investigating Uribe for attempting to manipulate testimonies from former fighters. The paramilitary groups in question first appeared in the 1980s, unleashing a cycle of violence in Colombia. While the Uribe administration garnered support from Washington for its hardline stance against Farc rebels, his presidency remains contentious due to ongoing issues of inequality and violence in the country, despite a peace agreement enacted by his successor in 2016.
