Santa Fe de Ralito
Encyclopedia
Santa Fe de Ralito is a small ranching outpost in Cordoba
, Colombia
. It was also the home base for the former leader of the AUC, Salvatore Mancuso
, as well as other leaders and 400 of their bodyguards. As part of the late 2004 demobilizations these people were given a temporary 142 square mile (368 km²) safe haven in Santa Fe de Ralito. While the AUC leaders remained in this area, they were not subject to arrest warrants. Colombian authorities and security forces could enter and leave Santa Fe de Ralito at will, but paramilitary leaders required government authorization to do so. This safe haven ceased to exist as such between late 2005 and early 2006, as the demobilizations came to an end.
Córdoba Department
Córdoba is a Department of the Republic of Colombia located to the north of this country in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Córdoba faces to the north with the Caribbean sea, to the northeast with the Sucre Department, east with the Bolívar Department and south with the Antioquia Department...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. It was also the home base for the former leader of the AUC, Salvatore Mancuso
Salvatore Mancuso
Salvatore Mancuso Gómez, also known as "el Mono Mancuso","Santander Lozada" or "Triple Cero", among other names is a Colombian paramilitary leader, once second in command of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia paramilitary group...
, as well as other leaders and 400 of their bodyguards. As part of the late 2004 demobilizations these people were given a temporary 142 square mile (368 km²) safe haven in Santa Fe de Ralito. While the AUC leaders remained in this area, they were not subject to arrest warrants. Colombian authorities and security forces could enter and leave Santa Fe de Ralito at will, but paramilitary leaders required government authorization to do so. This safe haven ceased to exist as such between late 2005 and early 2006, as the demobilizations came to an end.