Colombia reports theft of ammunition, grenades and missile weapons | World

The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, denounced this Tuesday (30) the “serious” disappearance of “more than a million” weapons and ammunition from two military bases, attributing the fact to trafficking networks linked to illegal Colombian groups and foreigners, who “probably” arrived in Haiti.

The weapons were removed “to third parties such as armed groups in Colombia […] and probably foreign conflicts, the closest being that of Haiti”, declared the president from Casa de Nariño.

According to Petro, “there are more than a million pieces of ammunition lost, including ammunition, explosives, grenades, weapons such as missiles” from the military bases of Tolemaida (center) and La Guajira (north).

“For a long time there have been networks made up of people from the military and civilian forces dedicated to the massive arms trade,” Petro added.

In Colombia, a country experiencing half a century of armed conflict, security forces have been involved in frequent corruption scandals and complicity with drug traffickers and guerrillas.

The disappearance of the weapon was detected during an inventory inspection. Alongside the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, and the general commander of the Military Forces, Helder Giraldo Bonilla, Petro highlighted that Haiti is “seven hours away by speedboat from the La Guajira base”, one of the stolen arsenals.

On July 7, 2021, a command of Colombian mercenaries shot and killed Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, 53, in his private residence, without presidential security taking action.

The small country, considered the poorest in the Americas, has plunged into deep social chaos since Moïse’s death and has been plagued by armed violence by gangs that control much of the country and the capital, Port-au-Prince.

“We hope to complete the investigations to [tomar] all decisions that must be adopted”, said Minister Velásquez, asked about possible layoffs within the affected military bases.

Colombia is experiencing an armed conflict that, in six decades, has left 9.5 million victims including kidnapped, missing, displaced and murdered.