Colombia extradited 14 former paramilitary leaders to the United States today to face drug-trafficking and other charges after authorities said they violated terms of a peace deal.
In body armour and handcuffs, the 14 were escorted aboard a plane after early morning raids on their jail cells. Among them were some of the most feared militia bosses accused of killing thousands in the bloodier days of a four-decade conflict.
Violence has eased under President Alvaro Uribe, who has used billions in US aid to weaken guerrillas engaged in Latin America's oldest insurgency, but rebels and renegade paramilitaries are still fighting in remote areas, financed by the huge cocaine trade.
"This is a warning," Mr Uribe said in a national television address. "This is notice that the law must be respected and terrorism defeated."
Militia leaders began surrendering under a 2003 deal with Mr Uribe that gave them short jail terms in exchange for confessing to crimes and compensating victims. Mr Uribe also suspended their US extradition orders as part of the deal.
But rights activists and officials said the paramilitary leaders violated the accord by keeping criminal gangs active from their jail cells or by failing to cooperate with authorities to confess and hand over illicit gains to victims.
The move comes as Mr Uribe faces pressure over a scandal tying the outlawed militias to legislative allies, including his own cousin.
He is under fire over a scandal ensnaring more than 60 legislators in an investigation into paramilitary links. Many are allied to Mr Uribe, and around 30 are in jail awaiting trial on charges including using militia death squads to intimidate voters.