Carlos Castaño

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Lore & Background

Carlos Castaño was the youngest son of a rich landowner. At 16 years old, after his father was murdered by FARC guerrillas, he was determined to take up arms against FARC in revenge. He became a member of a self-defense group. He was introduced to Pablo Escobar by his brother Fidel, but he was against drugs. Castaño received combat training from his brother, from army officers, and from Israeli mercenary Yair Klein. From this training came the order for the extermination against the UP between 1985-96. The Castaño paramilitary groups were financed by drug kingpin José Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. The friendship between the Castaño brothers and Pablo Escobar broke after the murders of Galeano and Moncada clan while being detained inside Escobar's personal prison 'La Catedral'. Castaño and his brothers then became founders of the group 'Los Pepes' (an acronym for 'people persecuted by Pablo Escobar'). During this time Carlos was known by the aliases of 'the Phantom' or 'the Kid'. Contacts between Los Pepes and the Colombian National Police Search Bloc allegedly resulted in Escobar's death. One month after Escobar's death, Fidel Castaño was killed in a battle against EPL guerrillas. However, it is believed that Carlos may have had a role in Fidel's death in retaliation for the alleged rape and murder of a woman alleged to have been a lover of both brothers. After Fidel's death, Carlos Castaño assumed leadership of AUC.

In Their Own Story

In a 1996 interview with writer Robin Kirk, later published in More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs and America's War in Colombia, Castaño acknowledged that the men under his command committed 'excesses', but defended them as necessary in Colombia's conflict. 'Look, the guerrillas hide themselves within the civilian population, they manipulate the population.' In a September 1997 interview in El Tiempo newspaper, Castaño admitted responsibility for the Mapiripán massacre. In 1997, Castaño later founded an umbrella organization of paramilitaries operating in Colombia known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The AUC demobilised in 2006 admitting to several brutal murders to the Colombian population. The AUC was accused by human rights organisations of committing atrocities, and it has openly admitted to its involvement in the drug trade. The AUC was listed by the US Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. AUC was disbanded after then Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez reached a peace agreement with reduced terms for its members. Castaño stated on Colombian television in 2000 that 70 percent of AUC funds came from narcotrafficking.

Reader's Guide

On 24 September 2002, the United States Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Castaño which accused him of trafficking over 17 tons of cocaine into the United States. Castaño announced that he would give himself up for trial in the United States and would accept his participation in numerous crimes, though he resented his being personally linked to the drug trade. Castaño had become isolated from the organisation according to some observers, as he seemed to become relatively critical of the AUC's increasing association with narcotraffickers in recent years and was more willing to compromise with the Colombian Government. Allegedly this caused some AUC commanders to turn their backs on him. Castaño was killed on 16 April 2004. Acting AUC commanders claimed initially that there was an accidental exchange of gunfire between his bodyguards and a separate group of paramilitary fighters. Other sources within the group claimed that he and his men were captured and tortured before being killed and then buried by order of other AUC top leaders. Colombian investigators found a makeshift grave and an unidentified body near the supposed area of the events. On 23 August 2006, Colombia's Attorney General publicly ordered the capture of his brother Vicente Castaño and seven other individuals, accusing them of being involved in Carlos Castaño's apparent death. Castaño's skeleton was recovered from a shallow grave on 1 September 2006, and identified through DNA testing by the Colombian government authorities. His brother's second lieutenant named Jesús Roldán AKA 'MonoLeche' led authorities to the grave.

Did You Know?

• Carlos Castaño was a former member of the Medellin Cartel.
• He was known by the aliases 'the Phantom' or 'the Kid' during his time with Los Pepes.
• Castaño admitted responsibility for the Mapiripán massacre in a September 1997 interview in El Tiempo newspaper.
• He stated on Colombian television in 2000 that 70 percent of AUC funds came from narcotrafficking.
• Castaño's skeleton was recovered from a shallow grave on 1 September 2006 and identified through DNA testing.