They maintained a room next to the police station to move undetected
Tres décadas después de los primeros indicios, la justicia colombiana ha condenado a Santiago Uribe Vélez a 28 años de prisión por liderar Los 12 Apóstoles, un grupo armado ilegal acusado de ejecutar asesinatos selectivos en Yarumal, Antioquia, con la complicidad de agentes del Estado. El Tribunal de Antioquia revocó la absolución dictada en 2016, reconociendo en los mismos elementos probatorios una verdad que antes se había negado a ver. El fallo no es solo el desenlace de un caso individual: es el reflejo de una sociedad que sigue interrogando los pactos oscuros entre el poder político, las fuerzas de seguridad y la violencia paramilitar que marcaron el cambio de siglo.
- Un tribunal de apelaciones revocó la absolución de 2016 y condenó a Santiago Uribe —hermano del expresidente Álvaro Uribe— a 28 años de cárcel, sacudiendo los cimientos de un caso que parecía cerrado.
- Testimonios de oficiales retirados y exjefes paramilitares describieron cómo la hacienda La Carolina funcionó como centro de operaciones de un escuadrón de la muerte que actuaba con listas negras elaboradas por inteligencia policial y militar.
- La investigación había dormido durante más de una década hasta que en 2010 un teniente retirado habló desde Argentina, aportando grabaciones y relatos que reactivaron la causa y cambiaron su rumbo.
- La condena reaviva el debate sobre el legado del gobierno de Álvaro Uribe y la tolerancia —o complicidad— del Estado con los grupos paramilitares durante los años más cruentos del conflicto colombiano.
- El fallo envía una señal inequívoca: la justicia colombiana está dispuesta a reabrir heridas que creía cicatrizadas cuando la evidencia exige una respuesta diferente.
Un tribunal penal de Antioquia revocó la absolución de Santiago Uribe Vélez y lo condenó a 28 años de prisión por haber liderado Los 12 Apóstoles, un grupo armado ilegal que operó en Yarumal bajo la figura de la "limpieza social", coordinando sus crímenes con policías y agentes de inteligencia militar. La decisión de la Sala Penal 005 del Tribunal de Antioquia contradice directamente el fallo de primera instancia de 2016, que había encontrado insuficientes las pruebas en su contra.
El caso tiene raíces profundas. Las primeras investigaciones se abrieron en 1995 tras una denuncia por homicidios cometidos en Yarumal, y para 1996 el propio Uribe fue llamado a declarar. Sin embargo, en 1999 la fiscalía archivó el expediente por falta de méritos. Lo que resucitó la causa fue el testimonio del teniente retirado Juan Carlos Meneses, quien en 2010, desde Argentina, describió en detalle cómo Los 12 Apóstoles disponían de un cuarto contiguo a la estación de policía para moverse sin ser vistos, y presentó una grabación en la que se hablaba del dinero que Uribe habría aportado para financiar las operaciones del grupo.
A ese relato se sumaron las declaraciones de excomandantes paramilitares presos. Pablo Hernán Sierra García afirmó que La Carolina era conocida dentro de su organización como un centro de entrenamiento paramilitar, y que Uribe figuraba entre los fundadores del Bloque Metro de las AUC. Daniel Rendón Herrera y Salvatore Mancuso coincidieron en señalar que los hermanos Castaño lo identificaban como el "líder natural" del grupo.
El juez de primera instancia que absolvió a Uribe en 2016 había señalado defectos en la formulación de cargos e inconsistencias en los testimonios. El tribunal de apelaciones, en cambio, encontró en esos mismos elementos base suficiente para una condena. Uribe ya había pasado casi dos años detenido antes de su absolución; ahora enfrenta una pena que redefine su futuro.
Más allá del caso individual, el fallo abre una reflexión sobre los años en que grupos ilegales operaron con distintos grados de tolerancia estatal, y sobre el peso que ese período sigue teniendo en la memoria institucional de Colombia. La justicia, al parecer, no ha dicho su última palabra sobre aquella época.
A court in Antioquia has overturned Santiago Uribe Vélez's acquittal and sentenced him to 28 years in prison for leading Los 12 Apóstoles, an illegal armed group accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings in collaboration with state security forces. The reversal, handed down by the Penal Chamber 005 of the Antioquia Tribunal, represents a dramatic reversal of a 2016 decision that had cleared him of charges. Prosecutors had long argued that Uribe orchestrated a systematic campaign of "social cleansing" from his cattle ranch, La Carolina, in the municipality of Yarumal, operating in concert with police officers and military intelligence agents who maintained blacklists of targets.
The case has a peculiar chronology. Initial investigations began in 1995 after Albeiro Martínez filed a complaint alleging that members of Los 12 Apóstoles had committed murders in Yarumal. Early CTI investigators confirmed not only the group's existence but its expansion under the command of Pedro Manuel Benavides and Lieutenant Juan Carlos Meneses of the Yarumal police. By November 1996, Santiago Uribe himself was drawn into the investigation and called to give a statement. The prosecution eventually concluded in August 1999 that the evidence was insufficient to sustain charges, and the case went dormant.
What revived the investigation was testimony from Meneses himself. In 2010, the retired officer—speaking from Argentina—provided detailed accounts linking Uribe to the group's operations. He described how Los 12 Apóstoles maintained a room adjacent to the police station that allowed members to move through the streets undetected. Meneses also produced a 2009 recording of a conversation with Captain Benavides discussing money that Uribe allegedly provided to enable the group's crimes. Alexander de Jesús Amaya, who served as Meneses's bodyguard, corroborated these claims by identifying Uribe as a financier of the organization, though his account later shifted.
The prosecution's case drew additional weight from testimony by imprisoned former paramilitary commanders. Pablo Hernán Sierra García, who had led the Cacique Pipintá group, stated that although he had never visited La Carolina, he knew within his own illegal organization that the estate functioned as a paramilitary training center. He also asserted that Uribe was among the founders of the Metro Bloc of the AUC and noted that during Álvaro Uribe's tenure as governor, the government had granted legal status to Convivir groups—armed civilian organizations that critics say facilitated paramilitarism. Other former paramilitary leaders, including Daniel Rendón Herrera and Salvatore Mancuso, reported that the Castaño brothers had identified Uribe as the "natural leader" of the group.
The first-instance judge who acquitted Uribe in 2016 had found the prosecution's case fundamentally flawed. He identified defects in how charges were formulated, inconsistencies in the alleged circumstances of the crimes, and weaknesses in the testimonial evidence. The appellate tribunal, however, found these same evidentiary elements persuasive enough to warrant conviction. The judges validated the prosecution's theory that Los 12 Apóstoles operated as a structured organization with Uribe at its helm, coordinating with state security personnel to carry out killings under the guise of social cleansing.
Uribe was detained in February 2016 and spent nearly two years in custody before his acquittal. The 28-year sentence now imposed means he faces a substantial prison term. The case carries implications beyond the individual defendant. It reflects ongoing judicial reassessment of paramilitarism cases from the 1990s and early 2000s, a period when illegal armed groups operated with varying degrees of state complicity. The reversal also touches on the legacy of the Uribe administration itself—a presidency that championed security policies later scrutinized for their connections to paramilitary activity. As this conviction stands, it signals that Colombian courts are willing to revisit settled cases when new evidence emerges, even decades after the alleged crimes occurred.
Notable Quotes
The group maintained a room adjacent to the police station that allowed members to move through the streets undetected— Retired Lieutenant Juan Carlos Meneses, testimony to prosecutors
Santiago Uribe was one of the founders of the Metro Bloc of the AUC— Pablo Hernán Sierra García, imprisoned former paramilitary commander
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did it take so long for this case to move forward? The initial investigation started in 1995, but nothing happened for years.
The case essentially stalled. Prosecutors closed it in 1999 saying they didn't have enough. It wasn't until 2010, when a retired police officer testified from Argentina, that the prosecution had what it felt was solid evidence of Uribe's direct involvement. That's a 15-year gap.
And the first judge believed him innocent. What changed the appellate court's mind?
The appellate judges looked at the same evidence—the testimony, the recordings, the accounts from paramilitary leaders—and reached the opposite conclusion. They found it credible and coherent enough to prove Uribe was running the operation.
This involves police officers and military intelligence working with a death squad. How openly did that happen?
According to the evidence, they maintained a room next to the police station so members could move through town without being noticed. They had blacklists. It wasn't hidden—it was integrated into the security apparatus.
What does this mean for other cases from that era?
It suggests courts are willing to revisit old cases when new testimony surfaces. If a retired officer's account from 2010 can overturn a 2016 acquittal, other settled cases might be reopened too.
And Uribe's brother was president during some of this?
Álvaro Uribe was governor during the period when these groups were most active. The case touches on questions about what the administration knew and enabled.