Colombian gov't infiltrated by "paras": witness

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian government ministries and other state institutions are infiltrated by outlawed right-wing militias, a witness told judges in testimony on Friday that could further imperil a U.S. trade deal.

More than 60 members of Congress, most from President Alvaro Uribe's conservative coalition, are being investigated for possible links to drug-running paramilitaries who have terrorized Colombia for years in the name of combating left-wing rebels.

The probe's star witness, former intelligence official Rafael Garcia, now in jail for erasing the criminal histories of paramilitary leaders from a government database, told the Supreme Court the armed forces, government ministries and other institutions were also rife with "paras."

"Congress is not the only institution penetrated by the paramilitaries," he said while testifying against a senator caught in the scandal.

The allegation could increase resistance in Washington to a U.S.-Colombia free trade deal, blocked by House of Representatives Democrats concerned that Uribe is not doing enough to protect labor union members who are often targeted by the paramilitaries.

Trade Minister Luis Guillermo Plata, the Colombian official in charge of getting the deal passed, said Garcia lacked credibility and did not back up his statements with evidence.

Uribe's former intelligence chief, Jorge Noguera, is jailed and awaiting trial on charges he provided a death list of union officials and human rights workers to the illegal groups.

The president remains popular for cutting common crime and spurring the economy with his crackdown on Marxist rebels.