Cooperation between the Government of Colombia , the United States , and anti leftist paramilitaries had been occurring since 1962 , primarily to combat FARC and the National Liberation Army ( see Plan LAZO , Alianza Americana Anticomunista , Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá , Los Pepes , and CONVIVIR ) . In many cases , these connections directly linked government officials to extreme paramilitary violence ; in the 1997 Mapiripán Massacre dozens of civilians were mutilated by UAC paramilitaries with the cooperation of the National Army of Colombia through omission ( specifically under the orders of U.S. trained Colonel Lino Sánchez ) . The military was also implicated in participating in and assisting paramilitaries in the 2001 Alto Naya massacre and the 2003 Betoyes Massacre , in the latter instance disguising themselves as members of the UAC
Mapiripán Massacre
Mapiripán Massacre
2006 Colombian presidential election