Ever since Salvatore Mancuso declared in 2004 that the rightwing paramilitary groups he had led were “friends” with more than a third of Colombia’s members of Congress, locals have wondered how high the scandal would reach.

President Alvaro Uribe has so far remained untouched by the stream of allegations and investigations emerging from Mr Mancuso’s trial, but recent revelations have transformed the “paragate” scandal from a case affecting mainly local officials and junior parliamentarians to one approaching the doors of the presidential palace.