Since 2006, the name Saúl Severini Caballero began to appear in the media and in judicial files, after he was captured by CTI agents of the Prosecutor’s Office at a hacienda in Pivijay, Magdalena.
Dozens of testimonies and evidence allowed the justice system to sentence him to 30 years in prison for the murder of a teacher. And now, his own victims are warning that the rancher, linked to paramilitarism, landed in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), where he began to talk about alleged links of more than 50 people with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
The slaughterhouse
At least three people, including a former AUC member, have pointed out that several of the episodes Severini has narrated do not even match judicial files that have already been processed. They warn of a possible trap for the JEP to grant benefits.
In the midst of his statements, they point out as an example, Severini mentioned the businessman and rancher from the Atlantic coast Rafael Antonio Matera Lajud. In 2025, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace had already ordered an investigation into the assets of Matera Lajud, following statements from paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso.
According to versions collected by that other jurisdiction, cattle that AUC members stole from farmers and ranchers on the Coast ended up at the Camagüey slaughterhouse, owned by Matera Lajud and several associates, where they were slaughtered and sold to raise money and finance the paramilitaries. That same information is what Severini is offering before the JEP.
But Rubén Darío Henao, attorney for Matera Lajud, is asserting that Severini’s allegations are false and that they will initiate legal actions to prove it.
“I have been Mr. Matera’s lawyer for more than 8 years and he has been falsely and unfoundedly accused of being a financier of the AUC. We will initiate actions for damage to my client’s good name and so that Severini answers criminally and civilly for the harm to the good name of the Camagüey company,” Henao told EL TIEMPO.
He added: “During the paramilitary era, there were DAS agents at the slaughterhouse who monitored that the cattle entering were not stolen. Severini’s statements make no sense.”
The testimony of ‘Jorge 40’
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO also had access to a resolution from Prosecutor’s Office 145 delegated before the specialized circuit criminal judges of Valledupar dated last June 10, in which an inhibitory resolution was issued in favor of Matera Lajud.
The reason: the chamber found a possible violation of the right and the principle of non bis in idem (being judged twice for the same act) that applies to Matera Lajud, due to the existence of an investigation, since there was another process against him where they were already investigated for the alleged financing of the AUC, which ended with the dismissal of that file in 2020.
EL TIEMPO also exclusively learned of an interview given by former paramilitary leader Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, alias Jorge 40.
He is the top leader of the Northern Bloc of the AUC, to which Severini’s wing belonged.
In the statement given by ‘Jorge 40’ to the Investigation and Judicial Defense office hired by criminal lawyer Rubén Darío Henao, where he mentions that Matera Lajud was extorted by the AUC.
“I know who Mr. Rafael Matera is; I am not sure if his second last name is Lajud, as I was never friends with him. I know he owns a slaughterhouse that bought cattle in northern Cesar and, as a rancher myself, I had such business knowledge. I saw or noticed him at some social events at the vallenato festival, where some talked about his presence pointing out his figure, but for obvious reasons he belonged to a different generation of businessmen than mine and it was with those of his generation that he socialized in my town, not with mine.”
He added: “As I expressed, during my time as a combatant I saw him only once in a situation forced upon him that had nothing to do with military situations or anything similar, but rather in our urgency to learn about rainwater storage methods.”
In fact, he assured that the AUC demanded extortions from Matera: “Mr. Rafael Matera, as I have already explained, was like all the businessmen who carried out any economic activity within our de facto state, subject to the imposition of our war tax and, as such, was forcibly obliged to pay it. If you want to call it extortion, do so, because that is the name our top commander Carlos Castaño gave to that tax, and if Mr. Matera refused to pay it, be sure that our retaliatory actions against him or his interests would have been worse.”
Who is lying?
Criminal lawyer Henao also told EL TIEMPO that what Severini would be seeking with his statements is to evade the 30-year sentence imposed on him for homicide.
“He arrived at a special jurisdiction that is a nest of impunity. There is neither truth nor reparation,” Henao said.
(Consult all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)
And he concluded by saying that for many years his client has had no participation in the Camagüey slaughterhouse: “He is an 81-year-old man whose rights have not been respected. That is why we are working on the legal actions that may be appropriate.”
But those close to Severini assure that “his statements are truthful,” that other testimonies support this and that he will continue with the information he is providing, of which he has evidence.
That information also implicates politicians and military personnel.
For its part, JEP sources indicated that all information that reaches that jurisdiction is cross-checked and verified before any decision is made.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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