I feel profound pain at the sentence against my brother
In a country still measuring the distance between its violent past and a more just future, a Colombian appeals court has found Santiago Uribe — cattle rancher and brother of former president Álvaro Uribe — guilty of founding and financing a paramilitary group responsible for crimes against humanity in Antioquia. The ruling, which overturns an earlier acquittal, sentences him to nearly three decades in prison and stands as a rare moment of institutional accountability in a conflict that claimed tens of thousands of lives. It is a reminder that justice, when it arrives, often does so slowly — and that the shadows cast by paramilitarism in Colombia have not yet fully lifted.
- A Colombian appeals court reversed a prior acquittal, delivering a 28-year sentence that implicates one of the country's most politically connected families in paramilitary atrocities.
- The conviction carries crushing penalties — over $2.7 million in fines and a 20-year ban from public office — and an arrest warrant will follow once the ruling is finalized.
- The defense, led by the same attorney representing former president Álvaro Uribe in his own legal battles, is contesting the verdict as built on false testimony and media manipulation.
- Former president Uribe responded with a brief, grief-stricken social media post, deepening scrutiny of a family already entangled in Colombia's unresolved legal and political tensions.
- The ruling lands as a rare but significant marker in Colombia's long struggle to hold accountable those who financed and directed paramilitary violence against civilians.
A Colombian appeals court overturned an earlier acquittal on Tuesday, finding Santiago Uribe — brother of former president Álvaro Uribe — guilty of founding and financing the paramilitary group known as Los doce apóstoles. The Antioquia Superior Court sentenced him to 28 years and three months in prison, along with a fine exceeding $2.7 million and a twenty-year ban from public office. His request for house arrest was denied, and an arrest warrant will be issued once the ruling becomes final.
The court found Uribe criminally responsible for crimes against humanity, aggravated homicide, and criminal conspiracy. Among the specific acts attributed to the group was the 1994 murder of Camilo Barrientos in Yarumal, a municipality in northwestern Antioquia where Los doce apóstoles operated. The appellate judges sided with the prosecution, the public ministry, and civil parties who had all challenged the original acquittal.
Former president Uribe, who governed Colombia from 2002 to 2010 and faces his own separate legal proceedings, responded with a brief social media statement expressing personal anguish. His brother's defense attorney, Jaime Granados — who also represents the former president — has argued the case was built on false witnesses and distorted by media pressure, and further appeals are expected.
The conviction carries weight beyond the courtroom. Paramilitary violence scarred Colombia for decades, with groups often linked to landowners and security forces committing widespread atrocities against civilians. Prosecutions have remained rare relative to the scale of that violence, making this ruling a notable, if hard-won, step in the country's ongoing reckoning with its past.
A Colombian appeals court overturned an earlier acquittal on Tuesday, finding Santiago Uribe—a cattle rancher and brother of former president Álvaro Uribe—guilty of founding and financing a paramilitary militia called Los doce apóstoles. The Antioquia Superior Court sentenced him to 28 years and three months in prison, a decision that reverses a lower court's exoneration and marks a significant moment in Colombia's reckoning with paramilitarism.
The court determined that Uribe bore criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity, aggravated homicide, and criminal conspiracy. The sentence carries substantial additional penalties: a fine exceeding 10.5 billion Colombian pesos—roughly $2.7 million—and a twenty-year ban from holding public office. The court also rejected his request for house arrest. Once the ruling becomes final, an arrest warrant will be issued.
Los doce apóstoles emerged in Yarumal, a municipality in Antioquia department in northwestern Colombia. The group's activities included the 1994 murder of Camilo Barrientos, a killing for which Uribe was found criminally liable. The appellate judges sided with arguments presented by the prosecution, the public ministry, and civil parties in the case—all of whom had challenged the original acquittal.
Former president Uribe, who served from 2002 to 2010, responded to the conviction with a brief statement posted on social media. "I feel profound pain at the sentence against my brother," he wrote. "May God help us." The former leader has faced his own legal troubles in recent years, including investigations into alleged witness tampering and other charges, though he has denied wrongdoing.
Santiago Uribe's defense team, led by attorney Jaime Granados—who also represents the former president in his own cases—has consistently challenged the conviction. Granados has argued that the trial relied on false testimony and was tainted by media manipulation. The defense is expected to pursue further appeals, though the appellate court's reversal of the acquittal represents a major setback for that strategy.
The case sits within a broader Colombian effort to prosecute those responsible for paramilitary violence, a phenomenon that claimed tens of thousands of lives during the country's internal conflict. Paramilitaries, often aligned with state security forces or wealthy landowners, committed widespread atrocities against civilians. Convictions remain rare relative to the scale of the violence, making this ruling noteworthy in a legal landscape where accountability has historically been difficult to achieve.
Citações Notáveis
I feel profound pain at the sentence against my brother. May God help us.— Former president Álvaro Uribe, on social media
The defense argued the trial relied on false witnesses and media manipulation.— Santiago Uribe's legal team, led by attorney Jaime Granados
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a conviction of a former president's brother matter beyond the family?
Because it signals whether Colombia's courts will actually hold powerful people accountable for paramilitary violence. For decades, these groups operated with impunity. If the brother of a former president can be convicted, it changes the calculus for everyone else.
But he was acquitted the first time. What changed?
The appeals court looked at the same evidence and reached the opposite conclusion. That's unusual and suggests the lower court's reasoning was weak. The appellate judges found the evidence of his role in founding and financing the group persuasive enough to overturn the acquittal entirely.
His lawyer says there were false witnesses. Is that credible?
Defense lawyers always say that. What matters is whether the appellate court found the testimony reliable. They did. But yes, witness credibility in paramilitary cases is often murky—people testify under duress, fear, or incentives. That's the reality of prosecuting these crimes.
What happens now?
The ruling has to become final through the legal system. Once it does, they'll issue an arrest warrant. He's not in custody yet. He could appeal further, but the appellate court's decision is substantial. It's not the end of the road, but it's a major turn.
Does this affect the former president?
Not directly. But it shows the courts are willing to pursue members of powerful families. That creates pressure on his own cases. Whether it changes outcomes is another question.