Friday, May 4, 2007

Shady math and Colombia’s “record” drug bust

(I don’t like to indulge in conspiracy theories, but the following tale from Colombia caught my attention).

On Sunday, Colombian authorities claimed that they were involved in the largest drug bust in the country’s history (image). Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos even boasted that it was “the greatest number of tons (of cocaine) ever seized.”

Fast forward to Wednesday when Colombian police revised their figures on how much cocaine was actually seized. Citing “confusion…made in the initial sight count of the drug,” the actual amount of confiscated cocaine was nearly half of the amount initially estimated. (13 tons versus 25 tons).

*Puts on tin foil hat*

Note that the revised figure was released after Colombian president Alvaro Uribe arrived in Washington, DC on Tuesday, talked with President Bush at the White House, and gave several speeches praising his administration. (It is possible that the revised figures were even publicized after Uribe met with Democratic legislators on Wednesday). Perhaps the Colombian police withheld the changed number until after Uribe traveled to DC and met with key politicos. Possibly the revised figure wasn’t really “revised” after all and the Colombian authorities hid the real number in order for Uribe to leave on an extraordinary note for Washington.

*Takes off tin foil hat*

Or maybe I really ought to just lay off the occasional conspiracy theory and toss my tin foil hat in the trash.

Image- Melbourne Herald Sun

Links- news.com.au, The Telgraph, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, ABC News

at

2 comments:

  1. Chapín8:05 AM

    That sounds exactly like the kind of media manipulation Latin American governments like to do. First impression is always the most important, right?

    Of course, it's also possible the police officers took off with half of the dope themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erwin C.9:48 PM

    The whole affair sounded so shady which was why i put on my tin foil hat.

    Speaking of "media manipulation", VP Fransisco Santos used to be editor of El Tiempo. (A possible red flag?)

    ReplyDelete