Colombia: Is Missing Paramilitary Chief Alive?

A senior Colombian paramilitary leader claims that Carlos Castano is not dead and that no one tried to kill him on April 16. He did suggest that Castano, founder of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), could have staged an assassination attempt in order to disappear or even to surrender to the United States. The U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, however, immediately denied any U.S. involvement in the case.