Colombian military loses millions of bullets, says president
Colombia’s president revealed that the country’s military has experienced significant losses, including millions of bullets, thousands of grenades, and several missiles, according to Gustavo Petro.
Petro stated that recent inspections of military bases brought these missing items to attention. He attributed the disappearances to internal corruption, alleging that military personnel have been involved in selling weapons to arms traders.
The defense minister confirmed ongoing investigations into the disappearances.
During a news conference, Mr. Petro emphasized, “The only plausible explanation for this significant discrepancy in inventory is the existence of longstanding networks within the armed forces and among civilians engaged in the large-scale commercialization of arms, utilizing legally acquired weapons from the Colombian state.”
The discrepancies were uncovered during surprise visits to two military bases—Tolemaida and La Guajira—on February 12th and April 1st, respectively. At Tolemaida, the inventory revealed a shortfall of over 808,000 bullets and nearly 10,000 fewer grenades than officially recorded.
Meanwhile, at La Guajira, the discrepancies included nearly 4.2 million bullets and more than 9,300 grenades. Mr Petro also said the base had lost two Spike missiles, 37 Nimrod missiles and 550 rocket-propelled grenades.
He told reporters that the military supplies would have been passed on to armed groups within Colombia, but could have been smuggled to Haiti or the international black market.
“The saddest thing about this is that these same munitions end up wounding and killing the same members of the military forces,” the Colombian president said.
Colombia has suffered from decades of conflict involving government forces, left-wing guerrilla groups, and right-wing paramilitary forces, in which more than 450,000 people have been killed.
At the same time, members of its military forces have been convicted of several corruption and human rights abuse charges.
Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez told the same news conference that investigations into the missing items had begun and that some officials had been moved from their posts.
He added that further inspections of military bases across the country were being planned.
The Colombian military is one of the best equipped in the region. It has received billions of dollars from the United States to tackle drug cartels.
