Ever Veloza García, alias ´Don Hernan´, ´Mono Veloza´, ´HH´ in

Ever Veloza García, alias ´Don Hernan´, ´Mono Veloza´, ´HH´ in context
B. PROFILE AND AREA OF INFLUENCE1
Ever Veloza was born in Trujillo, Valle de Cauca in 1967. In the early 1980s, his family settled in Cubaral, Meta.
Following the example of his older brothers, who had started to get involved in the world of cocaine in San José
del Guaviare, in 1982 Ever Veloza began working as coca leaf collector. The paramilitary Vicente Castaño has
argued that at the time Ever Veloza worked for the FARC, however, in an interview with Verdad Abierta, Ever
Veloza emphatically denied this2.
In his versiones libres3, Ever Veloza said that he worked as a taxi driver in Bogotá and a truck driver in Acacías,
Meta. It was there, during his time in Meta, that Ever Veloza joined the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia
(AUC)4 through a friend of the family who had ties to Vicente Castaño. According to the version of Ever Veloza,
he joined the AUC because the FARC had robbed the truck that he used to transport bananas in Urabá and due
to necessity he sought out the Castaño’s so they would give him work5. In 1994, Ever Veloza arrived to Urabá
with the ´Turbo Grupo´, made up by the founders of the self defense forces in the banana region. In 1995, Ever
Veloza suffered an attack by the 5th Front of the FARC, when a bomb blew the facade off his house in Turbo6.
Shortly after his arrival to Urabá, Ever Veloza became the Commander of what would later be called the
´Bananero Bloc´ of the AUC. According to Ever Veloza, in 1996 he decided to ask the Castaño brothers to let him
go because he was "overwhelmed with so many deaths", and he went to Tulúa for six months. However, it did
not take long for Ever Veloza to return to his paramilitary activities, moving to Medellin, where he helped the
paramilitary alias ´Lucas´ to assemble groups of self-defense forces in Frontino, Antioquia.
In mid 2000, Ever Veloza was commissioned by Vicente Castaño to strengthen the Calima Bloc, which operated
between Valle de Cauca and Cauca, and against the will of the AUC boss had been put at the service of the drug
trafficking cartel's led by the paramilitary, alias ´Don Berna´. Ever Veloza managed to retake control of the
Calima Bloc: expanded their area of control, achieved economic support from several companies in Valle de
Cauca and Cauca and charged $50 per kilogram of coca that was exported through the Pacific routes.
1
Quoted from Verdad Abierta, December 29th, 2008, http://www.verdadabierta.com/victimarios/los-jefes/658-perfil-joseever-veloza-alias-hh, consulted by PCS: October 13th, 2010.
2
Ibid.
3
Translator’s Note: Spontaneous declarations hearings: - As part of the transitional justice process (Law 975 of 2005) a
voluntary confession or declaration is given by paramilitaries in special hearings. Since their role as a paramilitary is not in
question, but that acknowledgement is pre-requisite for benefitting from the transitional justice system and a significant
reduction in sentences - 7-9 years, the aim is for them to reveal the "truth" about the crimes they have committed.
4
Translator’s Note: Self-defense Forces of Colombia or Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC for its acronym in Spanish.
5
Verdad Abierta, May 17th, 2011, http://www.verdadabierta.com/justicia-y-paz/3251-los-castano-los-tangeros-y-el-origendel-bloque-bananero-en-el-uraba, consulted by PCS: May 18th, 2011.
6
Ibid.
On November 25th, 2004, Ever Veloza demobilized with 452 men in the municipality of Turbo - Antioquia as the
head of the Bananero Bloc. In December of the same year, he acknowledged that he was a member of the
Calima Bloc, thus participating in a second demobilization of paramilitary forces.
In 2006 Ever Veloza escaped when he was called to appear before the authorities in the Peace Process. Finally in
April of 2007 he was captured by the DIJIN7 and was imprisoned in the Itagui prison in Antioquia. Ever Veloza
was categorized as a "common criminal" for being behind the formation of "criminal bands" after he had
escaped from the concentration area in Ralito where the principal paramilitary bosses were situated8.
Due to the pressure from various sectors, including civil society, the Colombian Government postponement of
Ever Veloza's extradition by six months was achieved, so that he could continue to provide information
regarding his victims and turn over the remains of the victims that he had knowledge about. According to the
then Attorney General, Mario Iguarán:
The Attorney General's Office has shown the interest it has in having 'HH' continue to help us to
learn about the truth, through the delivery of assets and the delivery of information so that we
are able to know something about this conflict. That is why I understood that it has been
arranged to grant the extradition, but suspend the extradition for six months.9
According to Mario Iguarán, Ever Veloza is one of the paramilitary leaders that has most collaborated with the
prosecutors, providing information to clarify the fate of hundreds of disappeared persons10.
In January of 2012, José Barney Veloza, alias ´El Flaco´ - who is imprisoned in Colombia, was awaiting judgment
within the framework of Justice and Peace for the crimes he committed as a paramilitary in the shadow of his
brother Ever Veloza 11.
Crimes attributed to the Calima Bloc:
After numerous versión libre hearings with the former paramilitary, testimonies from victims and investigations
carried out by the Judicial Police, the Attorney General's Office in the Justice and Peace process, it has been
established that the Calima Bloc was composed of six fronts to which 6.091 crimes in Valle del Cauca, Cauca,
Huila and Quindio are attributed.12
7
Translator’s Note: DIJIN is the Criminal Investigation Office of the Colombian National Police
Gallon, G. and Díaz, A. (eds.), (2010) Colombia: La Metáfora del desmantelamiento de los grupos paramilitares, segundo
informe de balance sobre la aplicación de la ley 975 de 2005. Bogotá, Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, p 98
9
Vanguardia.com, August 13th, 2008, in http://www.vanguardia.com/historico/3910-aplazan-por-seis-meses-extradicionde-hh, consulted by PCS: September 16th, 2010.
10
Ibid.
11
Verdad Abierta, January 16th, 2012, http://www.verdadabierta.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=3768.
Consulted by PCS: January 16th, 2012.
12
Verdad Abierta, June 8th, 2012, http://www.verdadabierta.com/bandera/4033-la-maquinaria-de-guerra-del-bloquecalima
8
The crimes, among others, that most stand out: the 1,200 victims in Uraba; the April 2001 Naya massacre which
left 27 victims; the Alaska massacre with 21 victims, the massacre of 18 people at the Aracatazo bar in the
municipality of Chigorodó - Antioquia; the murder of 19 trade unionists in Bugalagrande - eight of which
belonged to the Trade Union of Agricultural Workers (Sintrainagro for its acronym in Spanish) and one trade
union leader from the Antioquia Teachers Association (Adida for its acronym in Spanish) - and the killing of two
DAS13 agents that protected the Mayor of Apartado, Teodoro Díaz Lobo. 14
13
14
Translator’s Note: Department of Administrative Security
Ibid.