Russian police have arrested Yair Klein, a former Israeli army commando turned mercenary. Klein spent a lot of time in Colombia during the 1980s, hired by narcotraffickers to help form right-wing paramilitary groups.
Carlos Castaño, the longtime paramilitary leader who founded the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) in the mid-1990s, recalled Klein in his 2002 autobiography, My Confession.
[In 1987, MedellÃn cartel capo Gonzalo RodrÃguez Gacha, alias] “El Mexicano” came to have 1,500 men at his service. He organized the famous course of Israeli and British instructors at “La 50,” that was the name of the ranch where it happened. That’s where I knew Yair Klain [sic.]. I attended that course because there were some spaces available for people who were not RodrÃguez Gacha’s own men. The Castaños got five spaces, I occupied one of them. My nickname at the time was “El Pelao.” “El Mexicano’s” real purpose with these trainings was to prepare 400 men to attack La Uribe, where the government and the FARC were negotiating peace.
A lot has been speculated about that course given by Yair Klain, and I think that Klain was tricked into coming to Colombia, by Ariel Otero and two active and corrupt members of the Army. Ariel was a terrible man, he was the number-two man of [MedellÃn cartel figure] Henry Pérez. The Israeli instructor always thought that the Colombian government had hired him to give those courses.
I was very impressed by his concepts and I never forgot what he would say: “Don’t be afraid of being called a mercenary, if you are the mercenary of a state; states have to be defended, both within the Constitution and outside of the Constitution.” This was wonderful for me to hear!
The Colombian government has already asked Moscow to extradite Klein. Let’s hope the extradition and trial happen swiftly.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
In 1982, being Alvaro Uribe mayor of Medellin, Colombia, he had to resign the position after barely 5 months, of a projected period of 2 years, by pressures of president Belisario Betancur Quartas, when the latter was informed of a secret meeting of the former and the mafia bosses Pablo Escobar Gavira, the Ochoa Vázquez, Carlos Ledher and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Jaime Bustos: That’s nice and all (though I’d like to see the source of those particular details), but not really related to Klein. At least not obviously.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
jcf, this is factual. You can look for this on the internet. It also appears in a book by FERNANDO GARAVITO, and exiled Colombian journalist, in his book “the cocaine riders” – (”Los jinetes de la cocaina”). My point is that it’s been said that Rodriguez Gacha brought Klein over to Colombia. Now, Rodriguez Gacha was good partners with Uribe (even he used to call him “varito” as a term of endearment). And now Uribe wants Klein extradited to Colombia? It does not make sense, at least, not for me.
August 29th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Amendment. Los Jinetes de la CocaÃna (Fabio Castillo). El señor de las Sombras (Joseph Contreras/ Fernando Garavito)
August 30th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I have already read copies of those two books before (I was not impressed, for the most part, given their generous amount of personal bias and scarce amounts of actual sourcing. Still, this is not the place to discuss them at length), but I believe your point continues to still be too much of a stretch, even after you’ve explained it.
Colombian authorities have been acting against Klein even before Uribe came to power, considering that he was sentenced back in 2001. Do you expect the Colombian government to ignore that unilaterally and unconstitutionally? That’s what wouldn’t make sense.
Using your logic, it wouldn’t make sense for many people involved in paramilitarism to end up being judicially processed, yet that’s also going on right now.
FWIW, I just checked and Garavito actually claims that it was Ochoa, not Gacha, who called Uribe “varito”.
August 30th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Well jfc, if being judicially processed is living in a five star hotel, drinking whiskey and chanpagne whenever you feel like, bringing on babes at night, having your food cooked by a special chefs, luxury gym, internet rooms and authorized cellphones to call out, I would also like to be “judicially processed”
(I am not making this up, I read that in Semana Weekly, this year)
August 31st, 2007 at 12:32 am
*facepalms* You’re not making it up but, by using that information in such a manner, you’re olympically avoiding the point.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:50 am
Perhaps I avoided the point, after I realized nothing I could say would eventually make it through to you, but I hope I demonstrated a sound logic. *fingersnaps* >(’,')