Hyundai’s Colombian importer has denied accusations – made during the trial of former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso last week – that it supports paramilitary groups.
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Mancuso reportedly had claimed that Hyundai supported his army by donating four vehicles per year. He also claimed that money was extorted from local brewing and soft drink firms. Hyundai initially declined to comment when approached by just-auto.
In a press release, Hyundai said “In order to prevent the death threat [against a senior executive] Hyundai Colombia Automotriz was forced to deliver four vehicles for public service (taxis), for one sole time.”
The company was referring to the 25 November 2000 kidnapping of then manager Lazaro Montes by guerrillas in Silvania, 50 kilometres from the capital, Bogota.
Police and military authorities freed Montes from the FARC guerrilla group a few days later but, in December 2000, Montes, today the company’s commercial vice president, received a death threat via fax from the paramilitary group AUC, headed by Carlos Castaño at that time.
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By GlobalDataThe importer said that it rejects any statement regarding cooperation with the AUC group and with any other group outside the law and added that, “far from sponsoring a criminal activity to any armed group outside the law”, it had been a victim “of illegal coactive methods and only because of humanitarian reasons to preserve the life of one person, it accepted at that time to deliver the four taxis”.
However it is against Colombian law to succumb to blackmail and not report it, so the company will be investigated by national authorities.
Juan Vargas
