(Fun with Linguistics: "-tazo" is a handy little spanish suffix meaning a scandal or infamous event that gets thrown around like "-gate" in American journalism. "Bogotazo," the 1948 bloodbath in the capital that kicked off the Colombian civil war. The "Zapatazo," the case of the notorious shoe-chucking Iraqi journalist.)
So you can imagine the uproar and the name-a-thon when El Tiempo, Colombia's leading paper, published a video from the 2004 wedding of one Néstor Ramón Caro Chaparro, a druglord from Medellin. (They finally settled on "narcoboda.") In the video are clearly seen four, count 'em, four high-ranking Colombian Army officers: Col. Juan Castañeda, current Colombian military attaché in Brazil; Col. David Betancourt (ret.) and his brother, Col. Carlos Betancourt, also retired; and Col. Rodrigo Martínez, current CO of the 18th Arauca Operational Command.
Their reasons given for their presence at a known drug trafficker's wedding range from the barely-credible to "Honestly, Officer, these aren't my pants!" levels of ridiculousness. Carlos Betancourt told El Tiempo, "I went to the wedding because I met him in the Military Academy. For 21 years I hadn't known of him until he called me to invite me. If I had known he was in a mess, I wouldn't have gone." In one screencap (captioned "The familiarity of Colonel Carlos Betancourt is evident"), the erstwhile Betancourt is seen embracing the groom/drug baron. I will admit, though, given Latin standards of hospitality and friendliness, that this hardly counts as damning evidence that they were in cahoots.
As for his brother David? He said he was just passing through and Carlos invited him. Carlos seems to have invited quite a few people; Rodrigo Martínez also told El Tiempo that, "Col. Carlos Betancourt invited me to a party, we rented suits and went. But I didn't know who the groom was."
To a one, all four denied knowing that Caro Chaparro was a druglord. It's worth noting that, at the time of the wedding, Caro Chaparro was a recognized and feared trafficker. Eight months before, the US had issued an expedition request and the Colombian government--you know, the political body whose armed wing these men represented--was actively seeking his capture.
Now, there may be some cultural gap, but I go, "Hey! I know that guy!" when I see a former classmate's photo in a local newspaper. I'm fairly certain that seeing the face of a guy i sat next to in Elementary Statistics with the caption "Drug Baron Sought By US" would ring a few bells. Even more so if I sat through said narco's best friend's sloppily-drunk wedding toast the following week.
(Note: These statements are not meant to convey an accurate timeline, nor a realistic depiction of events. No international crime lords have invited me to their nuptials of late, at least to my knowledge. If they have, they've at least had the courtesy to not have their faces and aliases plastered in CAI windows and their mugshot on RCN. So, to make a long story short, I'm hypothesizing and hyperbolizing to express my incredulity.)
To the Colombian military's credit, Martínez has been relieved of his duties and Castañeda has been recalled from Brazil so that the two can offer testimony.
The National Police have ID'd three more individuals from the tape: Major Luis Francisco Mariño Flores of the National Police, and Jorge Celedón and "Poncho" Zuleta, vallenato singers of no small renown.
Celedón defended himself by saying that it's impossible to know the history of everyone who hires him to perform, and that he would have to be constantly requesting background checks.
Personally, I think I would make that part of the standard pre-employment questionnaire:
1. Name of the bride and groom?
2. Location, date, and time of the event?
3. Who will pay transportation, room, and board?
4. Are there any special song requests?
5. Have you been, or are you currently, involved directly or indirectly in the international drug trade of the laundering of funds for organized crime syndicates?
Maybe it's a little uncouth to ask, but given that his compatriot "Poncho" is under indictment at the moment for alleged ties to paramilitaries, ya know, it might be worth the trouble.
Send lawyers, guns and money,
J.
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