Truth Commission in Colombia Documents 450,000 Deaths, Criticizes US Role in Backing Violence
HAVANA TIMES – Colombia’s Truth Commission has estimated that over 450,000 people were killed in Colombia between 1985 and 2018 during a time when the United States was a key backer of the Colombian military and right-wing paramilitaries which targeted leftist groups, social justice leaders and union members. The Truth Commission’s report denounced the US-funded war on drugs in Colombia, stating, “The consequences of this concerted and largely US-driven approach [led to a] hardening of the conflict in which the civilian population has been the main victim.” This is Rev. Francisco de Roux, who led the Truth Commission.
Rev. Francisco de Roux: “To the government, public forces, political parties, entrepreneurs, churches, educators and other decision makers in Colombia: We ask you to recognize the drug trafficking penetration in our culture, in the state, politics and economy, and face it as a nation. We must develop investigative tools to face the alliances system and involved interests, and we must change the war politics that attack those who are the weakest link, the farmers.”