MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petro says false positives were “the worst contemporary crime”

Petro made these statements while his approval ratings are rapidly decreasing

Colombian President Gustavo Petro stressed Thursday that the so-called “false positives” were “the worst contemporary crime.” He was referring to the more than 6,400 extrajudicial executions committed by federal troops supposedly fighting rebel guerrillas. Petro made those statements after eight military personnel admitted their participation in some of those executions.

“A security built on the innocent blood of thousands of people is not security, it is the greatest human insecurity. With these systematic murders they wanted the anxiety of Colombians to turn into tranquility and tranquility into electoral support,” Petro said on Twitter.

“Those who applaud or deny it, deny the possibility on these ashes of building reconciliation in Colombia. Its intellectual and physical authors have written one of the worst pages in the history of humanity. 6,402 young people murdered by the State just to receive a few votes, popular applause, some chickens, or a medal,” Petro lamented.

“What they exterminated was our popular youth, with no other opportunity than the firing squad,” Petro stressed while insisting on the need to make reparations to the victims “as far as possible” and to work so that these crimes are not repeated.

Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a special tribunal that emerged after the 2016 peace accords with the FARC, put the number of extrajudicial executions committed by Colombian law enforcement forces, who passed off victims (mostly peasants and indigenous people) as guerrillas to obtain benefits of all kinds, at 6,402 in February 2021.

The investigation, known as Case 03 and whose technical name is 'Deaths illegitimately presented as combat casualties by agents of the State', differs from a previous one by the Attorney General's Office with far fewer victims. It specifies that these executions would have taken place between 2002 and 2008. the first six years of Alvaro Uribe's mandate.

Uribe, who at the time described this investigation as “biased”, has also reacted to this week's appearance in which eight military personnel admitted their participation in 50 illegal executions by stating that “it hurts and mortifies” that they have denied these crimes and have been believed.

“Any of these crimes are serious regardless of the number or instances of false accusations. My affectation is greater because of my immense affection for Colombia's soldiers and police,” Uribe wrote on his Twitter account.

Meanwhile, a poll released Thursday showed Petro's support plummeting, with 61% of Colombians disapproving of his administration, and 70% of respondents believing the country was getting worse.

Insecurity, the high cost of living, the state of the economy, and corruption are the problems that most concern citizens, according to pollster Invamer, whose previous reports placed Petro with 57% disapproval in April and 51% in February. When Petro took office he had only 20% rejection.

In June, the president experienced one of his biggest scandals due to a plot that includes the theft of a briefcase with thousands of dollars, polygraph interrogations, and alleged illegal wiretapping that ended with the departure of Laura Sarabia, his right hand, and Armando Benedetti, ambassador to Venezuela. In audios leaked to the press, Benedetti talks about alleged irregularities in the financing of the presidential campaign.

The survey, conducted between June 16 and 24, interviewed 1,200 people in the main cities of the country and has a margin of error of +/- 2.83%, it was explained.