These were Álvaro Uribe's comments on Senator Cepeda's statement at his trial

In a live broadcast that lasted 18 minutes, Álvaro Uribe Vélez responded to the testimony of Senator Iván Cepeda in the trial against the former president on three charges, including the alleged purchase of witnesses.

At the hearing, Senator Iván Cepeda gave his version of how he came to know the former paramilitaries who accuse the former president and his brother, Santiago Uribe, of having allegedly participated in the formation of an illegal armed group in the 1990s.

Cross-examined by the defense, Senator Cepeda admitted that he has no proof of the veracity of the versions of what supposedly occurred at the Guacharacas ranch, which was owned by the Uribe family and where, according to those witnesses, the formation of the AUC Metro Block was planned.

"Senator Cepeda lied or was mistaken about Hacienda Guacharacas. He said that the ELN destroyed it in 1994. That was in 1996. The date is very important because the criminal motive was to take revenge on the Governor and I started in that position in 1995. The worker who was left in charge of the farm, named Tobías, was killed by guerrilla militiamen in 1996, not in 1994 as Senator Cepeda said," said Uribe.

"Óscar Monsalve, Sr., is the father of Juan Guillermo Monsalve, the star witness. He worked on the farm as a field foreman until the end of 1994 and retired before the guerrilla destruction. He returned as administrator after the destruction and there were already other employers. My family had been exiled from there," he added.

In the following line, former President Uribe assured that there was never a meeting between his brother Santiago and Monsalve in Medellín.

He then referred to the contact that Cepeda established with prisoners from the Cómbita prison, as well as Monsalve and Alberto Guerrero Pipintá. "Senator Cepeda states that he contacted prisoners Juan Guillermo Monsalve and Alberto Guerrero, Pipintá, as well as other prisoners such as those from Cómbita, through Piedad Córdoba and Mercedes Arroyave. Piedad Córdoba is deceased. She had a contradiction with Cepeda in her statements before the Court. Mercedes Arroyave is missing. She never went to or responded to the calls from the Court or those of the Prosecutor's Office," he said.

According to Uribe, Senator Cepeda has remained silent on the hypothesis that lawyer Samuel Arturo Sánchez Cañón contacted him with Pipintá. "Throughout the process, there are statements in this regard, which are reinforced because lawyer Sánchez Cañón was a defender of the paramilitaries of the Cacique Pipintá group. My case is the opposite. In all the episodes, except one, the people who informed me about Senator Cepeda's pilgrimage through the prisons to affect me are known, as well as the actions of others in the same direction."

Uribe insisted that he never asked for witnesses, but rather for verification of the reports he received about Cepeda's actions.

He then spoke of Cepeda's contributions to the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners Foundation. "In 2017: $14,771,059.90. In 2018: $25,953,222.20. $19,546,436.53. In addition, that organization was chaired by Franklin Castañeda, a friend and comrade in struggle, as Senator Cepeda acknowledges," he noted.

“ Senator Cepeda claims that Juan Guillermo Monsalve requested support for the family and that he was informed that it was being processed. So, we are in the presence of the fact that the only one who can provide humanitarian support that is not a bribe is Senator Cepeda. Doctor Diego Cadena has been proven to have made a contribution of 9 million pesos to Carlos Enrique Vélez. Doctor Cadena claims that he did it for humanitarian reasons, and the amount suggests this,” he added.

He also stressed that Cepeda had allegedly helped improve Monsalve's prison conditions. "Well, in this case there is also something small, like Senator Cepeda helping Monsalve to get a refrigerator. In my case it would have been very serious to even have managed to get a Styrofoam refrigerator for a prisoner," he said.

According to Uribe, Cepeda has deceived the justice system by sending incomplete audios to the Supreme Court. "He selectively sent the audios of some people."

Finally, he referred to the statement by Deyanira Gómez. " When she was asked about the number of meetings with Senator Cepeda, people who were following the broadcast observed and captured the numerical signal that she made with her fingers towards Senator Cepeda to help Mrs. Deyanira or her lawyer. This act must be investigated ."

Juan Pablo Penagos Ramirez