Presidential press secretary denies having pressured ‘HH’

César Mauricio Velásquez, press secretary for the Casa the Nariño, the presidential palace, said that demobilized paramilitary leader Ever Veloza, known as ‘HH’, is a “compulsive liar”. He assured during a press conference yesterday that: “I have not pressured or blackmailed anyone, neither verbally nor personally or by mail. This testimony is damaging to the good name and the honor of many people”.

‘HH’, declared yesterday in front of an audience of ‘Justice and Peace’ that he was pressured not to speak against retired general Rito Alejo del Rio and Juan José Cahux, former ambassador for Colombia in the Dominican Republic. ‘HH’ said that the people who were trying to keep him from speaking where Oscar Iván Palacio, a lawyer, and César Mauricio Velásquez, press secretary for the Colombian presidential palace Casa de Nariño. Both men, who are very close collaborators of president Álvaro Uribe’s government, were also involved in the now infamous reunion with paramilitary ‘Job’ that took place inside the presidential palace a few months ago. ‘HH’ assured that Velásquez and Palacio sent him messages with his defence attorney Consuelo Parra, after a television interview he gave to Noticias Uno.