José Vicente Castaño Gil aka El Profe (born July 2, 1957) is a former leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing Colombian paramilitary organization.

Castaño remains, however, a fugitive and is the presumed chief of the criminal organization Águilas Negras made up of former AUC paramilitary members.

[2] Castaño was born July 2, 1957, in Amalfi, a small village in the Antioquia Department in central Colombia.

His nickname is due to his knowledge of agronomy, which was compared to a Colombian TV program named El Profesor Yarumo.

Several sources claim that Castaño was assassinated under the orders of Diego Murillo Bejarano in retaliation for taking controls of territory and criminal rackets.