An unpopular truth

Bewilderment. Astonishment. Revulsion. These have been the predominant feelings experienced lately by Colombians who work daily towards a better country when they see the international press coverage on the recent events involving terror and violence in Colombia.


Overwhelming evidence, which is already being processed by the country’s national prosecutors, reveals a macabre plan orchestrated by narcoterrorist guerrillas leveraging their immense resources to hire street gangs in major cities to create a state of anarchy.


Their strategy is twofold. The first front is focused on destruction and coordinated attacks with multiple targets: public transportation infrastructure, police stations, shopping malls, supermarkets, banks, government offices... dozens of these vandalized, destroyed or even set on fire. Police officers have been burnt alive, stabbed and beaten by angry mobs of drugged street thugs. Cali, the country’s third largest city, has been under siege for weeks, with over 50 illegal blockades that froze most economic activities and drove hundreds of companies to bankruptcy, generating massive unemployment.


The second front is a careful PR campaign designed to disguise everything that’s happening as justified and pacific protests. They’ve mobilized the country’s youngest adults, whose lists of unfulfilled dreams have been growing steadily since the pandemic, driving them to take to the streets and protest peacefully with chants and dances. Simultaneously, they’ve published skillfully edited videos on social media where they make it look like the police’s response to violent attacks is actually an unjustified, proactive strategy of repression against peaceful protests. Also, they’ve reported hundreds of supposedly “disappeared” protesters, most of them magically reappearing when the press coverage has been published and the damage is done. Of course, the entire world has reacted against the government’s “brutal repression”.


The truth, however, is that those being murdered are mostly police officers forced to refrain from using their weapons by feeble authorities, such as Cali’s Mayor. Once this twisted lie became the predominant version on most media outlets, other governments and major NGO’s began pressuring the local government and most authorities retreated. The result? A large portion of Colombia’s southern roads have been blocked for over a month. Scarcely any movement of supplies and merchandise. Millions of tons of food spoiled. Besieged cities with no gas, no food. Their inhabitants unable to work, deprived of medical attention, all of this in the midst of the country’s worst Covid 19 peak.


The whole montage has been so cynical, so shameless, that there are videos where a director gives instructions to amateur actors posing as peaceful protesters, telling them to run and trigger fireworks that sound like gunshots, coaching them on how and when to yell “the police are shooting, they’re killing us” and how to fall to the ground realistically, simulating being shot. Just like a Hollywood movie, the farce has been working perfectly and these phrases have become trends on news outlets and social media.


To the shocked human rights groups, to the concerned journalists, to the inflamed politicians, all asking for moderation on behalf of government authorities, we must ask: What would be your reaction if you saw Rome’s subway system on fire? Or Milan’s shops looted? What if you saw Madrid’s police stations burnt to the ground? What would you do if you couldn’t drive to work? If you couldn’t buy groceries? If your sick relatives died on the streets because they aren’t allowed to reach a hospital? What if your entire city was on the brink of disaster because all economic activity is paralyzed?


An Unpopular Truth: What’s Really Happening in Colombia.


Bewilderment. Astonishment. Revulsion. These have been the predominant feelings experienced lately by Colombians who work daily towards a better country when they see the international press coverage on the recent events involving terror and violence in Colombia.


Overwhelming evidence, which is already being processed by the country’s national prosecutors, reveals a macabre plan orchestrated by narcoterrorist guerrillas leveraging their immense resources to hire street gangs in major cities to create a state of anarchy.


Their strategy is twofold. The first front is focused on destruction and coordinated attacks with multiple targets: public transportation infrastructure, police stations, shopping malls, supermarkets, banks, government offices... dozens of these vandalized, destroyed or even set on fire. Police officers have been burnt alive, stabbed and beaten by angry mobs of drugged street thugs. Cali, the country’s third largest city, has been under siege for weeks, with over 50 illegal blockades that froze most economic activities and drove hundreds of companies to bankruptcy, generating massive unemployment.


The second front is a careful PR campaign designed to disguise everything that’s happening as justified and pacific protests. They’ve mobilized the country’s youngest adults, whose lists of unfulfilled dreams have been growing steadily since the pandemic, driving them to take to the streets and protest peacefully with chants and dances. Simultaneously, they’ve published skillfully edited videos on social media where they make it look like the police’s response to violent attacks is actually an unjustified, proactive strategy of repression against peaceful protests. Also, they’ve reported hundreds of supposedly “disappeared” protesters, most of them magically reappearing when the press coverage has been published and the damage is done. Of course, the entire world has reacted against the government’s “brutal repression”.


The truth, however, is that those being murdered are mostly police officers forced to refrain from using their weapons by feeble authorities, such as Cali’s Mayor. Once this twisted lie became the predominant version on most media outlets, other governments and major NGO’s began pressuring the local government and most authorities retreated. The result? A large portion of Colombia’s southern roads have been blocked for over a month. Scarcely any movement of supplies and merchandise. Millions of tons of food spoiled. Besieged cities with no gas, no food. Their inhabitants unable to work, deprived of medical attention, all of this in the midst of the country’s worst Covid 19 peak.


The whole montage has been so cynical, so shameless, that there are videos where a director gives instructions to amateur actors posing as peaceful protesters, telling them to run and trigger fireworks that sound like gunshots, coaching them on how and when to yell “the police are shooting, they’re killing us” and how to fall to the ground realistically, simulating being shot. Just like a Hollywood movie, the farce has been working perfectly and these phrases have become trends on news outlets and social media.


To the shocked human rights groups, to the concerned journalists, to the inflamed politicians, all asking for moderation on behalf of government authorities, we must ask: What would be your reaction if you saw Rome’s subway system on fire? Or Milan’s shops looted? What if you saw Madrid’s police stations burnt to the ground? What would you do if you couldn’t drive to work? If you couldn’t buy groceries? If your sick relatives died on the streets because they aren’t allowed to reach a hospital? What if your entire city was on the brink of disaster because all economic activity is paralyzed?