José Vicente Castaño Gil, also known as El Profe (born July 2, 1957), is a former leader of the

United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (''Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia'', or AUC, in Spanish) were a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the ...

(AUC), a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Colombian paramilitary organization. After demobilizing, he was accused of murdering his brother and former AUC leader Carlos Castaño and of

narcotics trafficking The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...

by both the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n government and the government of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In August 2004, the United States formally requested his

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

. Castaño remains, however, a fugitive and is the presumed chief of the criminal organization '' Águilas Negras'' made up of former AUC paramilitary members. Vicente Castaño would be behind 'Águilas Negras'
El Pais Accessed 20 August 2007.

Biography

Early life

Castaño was born July 2, 1957, in Amalfi, a small village in the Antioquia Department in central Colombia. He was the sixth among twelve siblings of a family of farmers. When he was 12 years old he dropped out from school to help his father on farming duties. At the age of 18 he left the village and went to neighboring

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

where he also worked on farming for two years. Back in Colombia, Castaño worked with his brother

Fidel Castaño Fidel Antonio Castaño Gil Rambo (August 8, 1951 – January 6, 1994) was a Colombian drug lord and paramilitary who was among the founders of Los Pepes and the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Cordoba and Uraba (ACCU), a paramilitary group whi ...

in many businesses including a pub,

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

exchange in Segovia, Antioquia, and farming. They later moved to

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

where they worked in the lottery business. His nickname is due to his knowledge of agronomy, which was compared to a Colombian TV program named ''El Profesor Yarumo''.

Father's death

Castaño's father died on September 18, 1981, at the hands of the FARC-EP, a leftist rebel organization. The FARC had kidnapped the elder Castaño and demanded a ransom of 150 million pesos.

Family

Vicente Castaño is the brother of

, a leader of Los Pepes and the founder of

Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá ''Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá'' (ACCU), Spanish for Field Workers Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá, was a paramilitary group formed in northwestern Colombia, operating mainly in the Antioquia Department and Córdoba Depart ...

and

Carlos Castaño Gil Carlos Castaño Gil (16 May 1965 – 16 April 2004) was a Colombian paramilitary leader who was a founder of the Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá (ACCU), a far-right paramilitary organisation in Colombia and a former member of the ...

, who led the AUC until his death. Vicente has been accused of ordering Carlos' death.

Possible death

Several sources claim that Castaño was assassinated under the orders of

Diego Murillo Bejarano Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano (born 23 February 1961), also known as Don Berna or Adolfo Paz, is a former leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia paramilitary group, as well as the leader of The Office of Envigado cartel. Drug car ...

in retaliation for taking controls of territory and criminal rackets.

Popular culture

* In TV series '' El Cartel'' is portrayed by an anonymous actor as the character of Leopoldo Aguilar. * In colombian TV series ''

Tres Caínes ''Los Tres Caínes'' (The 3 Cain and Abel, Cains) is a 2013 Spanish-language TV Series produced by RTI Producciones for Colombia-based television network RCN TV and United States–based television network MundoFox. Based on the story of the Colom ...

'' is portrayed by the colombian actor Elkin Díaz.

References

External links

Colombian Air Force - Attorney will investigate Jose Vicente Castaño for the death of his brother Carlos

Semana.com - ¿Quién es Vicente Castaño?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castano, Vicente 1957 births Colombian drug traffickers Colombian murderers Fugitives wanted by Colombia Fugitives wanted on murder charges Members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia Possibly living people Castaño Gil family Colombian anti-communists