25/02/2021
According to the tribunal, as many as 1/3 of the killings reported as drug traffickers were actually completely innocent civilians lured to their deaths by Colombian security forces who murdered them in cold blood in order to "juke the stats."
What The Guardian fails to mention in this story, is that these massacres occurred during Plan Colombia, when the US was pouring billions of dollars into the country between 2001 and 2015, ostensibly to battle drug traffickers. Critics of the program claim the real purpose of Plan Colombia was to fight leftist guerillas (such as the FARC) and organizers.
During this time, Colombia was the 3rd largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, after Israel and Egypt. Supporters of the Plan Colombia initiative claimed it was a huge success, and perhaps it was, if it's true purpose was to murder leftists. It certainly does not seem to have made a dent in the global supply of co***ne or of co***ne importations into the United States.
While this type of "juking of the stats" on the part of Colombian forces may seem shocking, similar methods are employed here in the USA by our security forces on a regular basis. Untold thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans have been locked up, beaten, or killed in order to "juke the stats" in the War on Drugs. The Ramparts Scandal of the LAPD is but one example. For more current examples, consider the cases of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
The killings, which took place between 2002 and 2008, were declared combat kills in order to boost statistics in war with rebel groups
