Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 10:20:54 -0600 (CST)
From: Dennis Grammenos <dgrammen-AT-prairienet.org>
Subject: M-I: "Emerald King": Death Squads and Piety


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________________________________________
CNN/Reuters
25 February 1998

	The rise and fall of Colombia's emerald czar
	--------------------------------------------


BOGOTA (Reuters) - Victor Carranza emerged as the undisputed
king of Colombia's emerald industry during a bloody war against
rival miners in the 1980s and allegedly owes his vast power and
wealth in part to a right-wing death squad. 

Carranza, 63, purported backer of a 2,000-strong paramilitary
gang known as the "Black Serpent", was arrested in a raid on
one of his properties in northern Bogota Wednesday by 40
heavily-armed investigators. 

 International rights groups and even the U.S. State Department
accuse Carranza, a fervent Catholic and staunch supporter of the
opposition Conservative Party, of using the Black Serpent to
wipe out left-wing activists. 

They also say the gang has driven peasants off potentially
valuable land in the emerald mining region of central Boyaca
province and the oil-rich eastern plains. 

The December edition of Colombia's specialist finance magazine
Poder Y Dinero (Power and Money) estimated Carranza's
personal fortune at more than $1 billion. 

Other sources say the magnate owns 150,000 head of cattle and
has accumulated a vast estate of more than 7.3 million acres. 

"Government authorities, municipal leaders, human rights
groups and community organizations all identify Victor Carranza
as a paramilitary chieftain," the Washington-based Human
Rights Watch/Americas said in a 1996 report. 

In its 1995 report, the State Department referred to Carranza's
"extensive paramilitary apparatus." 

Colombia's emerald industry has long been tarnished with a
Wild West image. The main mines, at one time operated by the
state, were temporarily shut down in the 1970s as thieves
robbed emerald consignments as they were taken by road from
Boyaca to Bogota. 

One international dealer, who requested anonymity, said it was
during that period that Carranza laid the foundations for his
business empire, which now includes two of the four largest
emerald mines and allegedly extends to drug trafficking and
money laundering. 

But he really rose to prominence during the six-year "emerald
war" that raged until 1990 between rival miners, some of them
backed by the notorious Medellin drug mob. 

"Carranza started from scraps. He was a bandit. He used to rob
emerald shipments from the government and was granted
mining concessions because he was the biggest bandit," the
international dealer said. "Carranza's main aim is to be the
maximum king, the emerald emperor." 

While he has made many enemies during his 50 years in the
business, Carranza has forged a network of iron-clad allies and
admirers. 

Francisco Grijalba, head of the state mining agency Mineralco,
which issues emerald mining concessions, recently hailed
Carranza as a "great businessman who is making great
investments in the sector." 

Roman Catholic priest Monsignor Alvaro Raul Jarro, who helped
hammer out the 1990 peace pact between the emerald miners,
described Carranza as a "man of great natural intelligence and
vision." 

In a recent interview, he told Reuters that the emerald miners
had showered him with gifts of gems and fine oil paintings and
 contributed heavily to church repairs in Boyaca. 

"Carranza, like the other miners is very Catholic and loves the
 Church," Jarro said. "He has a great natural faith." 

	(C)Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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