Lucho Herrera, one of Colombia’s most famous cyclists, linked to war crimes

A judge ordered an investigation against Colombian cyclist Lucho Herrera for the forced disappearance of four of his neighbors.

According to three former paramilitaries, Herrera paid them money forcibly disappear his neighbors, in the October of 2002, because they would not sell their land to him.

Noticias Uno made public, on Sunday, a court order to investigate the famed cyclist for the aggravated forced disappearance and aggravated homicide of four farmers, who were neighbors of Herrera in Fusugasuga, a town in the Cundinmarca province.

Gonzalo Guerrero, Victor Manuel Rodriguez, Jose del Carmen Rodriguez and Diuviseldo Torres, on October 23, 2002, were kidnapped, murdered, dismembered and never heard from again.

Three paramilitary confessions

The court order outlines testimonies provided over the past decade, and can be read here.

The order contains the testimony from former paramilitary Luis Fernando Gomez, alias “Ojitos”, who said that he was order by his commander, Martin Llanos, to meet with Herrera.

Ojitos, a former member of the now-defunct paramilitary group Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Casanare, was told to “do whatever Mr. Lucho needed.”

He told us that we had to clean those people out, that they were guerrilla militiamen.

Luis Fernando Gomez, alias “Ojitos”

Gomez testified that he met with Herrera eight days later on his farm where he was given two manila envelopes.

One envelope contained four photos, and the other envelope contained COP40 million, according to the paramilitary fighter.

Another paramilitary, Hector Diaz Gaitan a.k.a.”Camargo”, corroborated the allegations, and said that he met with Herrera once “at the La Vara restaurant on the road from Fusa to Silvania … to organize the events of those people’s disappearances.”

A third paramilitary, Oscar Andres Huertas a.k.a. “Menudencias”, described how they kidnapped the four neighbors by identifying themselves as agents of intelligence agency DAS.

They then killed them in cold blood, burying their bodies on Lucho’s farm.

Ojitos testified they learned that the victims were not guerrilla members, and were instead landowners who refused to sell their land to Lucho, after the events.

Fabian Rodriguez, a relative of the victims said, “My grandfather … worked for Don Lucho, and my mother worked for him too.”

In a response to radio station La W, Herrera denied the accusations.

I will provide all the explanations to the authorities, but I can assure you that I am not involved in the events that were reported … I will appear in the media in due time and I am consulting with my lawyer to appear before the Prosecutor’s Office to provide the necessary explanations.

Lucho Herrera

Herrera’s path to treachery

Lucho Herrera brought much glory to Colombia in the 1980’s.

A professional cyclist active between 1982 and 1992, during which he achieved 30 victories around the world, most notably winning the Tour of Spain.

Herrera himself was kidnapped by the Casanare Self-Defense Forces, and released in March 2000, after his relatives paid nearly 4 billion pesos.

This is allegedly how Herrera met Martin Llanos.