After about 2 1/2 years, the commander of #Colombia’s army, Gen. Eduardo Zapateiro, is leaving. This is not a bad thing.
elespectador.com/judicial/me-de…
His exit is long overdue. A 7-tweet thread:
Why overdue? I can't speak to the corruption allegations @petrogustavo hints at here, in a recent interview with @estoescambio.
Rather, Gen. Zapateiro has been most problematic because of his public messaging on human rights and civil-military relations.
cambiocolombia.com/articulo/poder…
The General posted this charming tweet, a video of slithering snakes, the day after #Colombia’s transitional justice tribunal concluded that the military killed 6,402 civilians between 2002-2008. Those denouncing “false positives,” you see, were reptiles.
Here’s the General, at one of the most intense moments of #Colombia’s 2021 National Strike, calling the feared ESMAD riot police “heroes in black,” urging them to “keep working as you have been.” The ESMAD were killing and maiming dozens of protesters.
Following a March 2022 raid (colombiapeace.org/what-we-know-a…) in which soldiers likely killed at least 4 non-combatants, the General said, “This isn’t the first operation in which pregnant women and minors get killed.”
When candidate Petro, on Twitter, accused officers of colluding w/ the neo-paramilitary Gulf Clan, the General made a highly irregular foray into electoral politics, reviving an accusation that Petro had taken a cash bribe (charges were dropped in 2021).
Gen. Eduardo Zapateiro sent damaging messages on human rights. His public statements made the armed forces appear improperly aligned with a specific political ideology.
Meanwhile, #Colombia’s insecurity measures worsened, and armed groups proliferated. So no, I won’t miss him.
This thread, as a blog post: adamisacson.com/the-wrong-man-…
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