2006 Colombian presidential election of Pablo Escobar and mafia boss Fabio Ochoa. In 1983, Alberto was assassinated by FARC rebels at his estate, after which Alvaro sold off the property and dedicated himself to politics. However, Mary Beth Long, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics, in a 2004 opinion letter to the New York Times claimed that allegations of links between Alvaro and the Medellin drug cartel or Pablo Escobar from 1991 were never substantiated. As governor of Antioquia, Uribe held known contacts with the paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), the goal of which was fighting leftist insurgents. His
United States and state-sponsored terrorism MAS worked together to create a new paramilitary organization known as "Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar" ("People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar", PEPES) with the purpose of tracking down and killing Pablo Escobar and his associates. The leader of the organization was Fidel Castaño. The Calí cartel provided $50 million for weapons, informants, and assassins, with in hope of wiping out their primary rivals in the cocaine business. Both Colombian and U.S. government agencies (including the DEA, CIA and State Department) provided intelligence to the PEPES. The Institute for Policy Studies is searching for details of connections the CIA and DEA had