“Even when the cessation comes into force, the constitutional duty of the Military Forces to protect people and confront crime will not be suspended": Minister of Defense.
The government will provide security conditions to all candidates for the regional elections next October.
The coordinated work conducted by the Military Forces and the indigenous people was vital to find the minors in the jungles of the Yarí region.
“As long as there is no cease-fire in force, and this will occur at the moment when the President of the Republic issues a decree that in the same way indicates the precise day and time of suspension of operations, all the activity of the Military Forces, with all their resources, continue to be carried out.”
This was stated by the Minister of National Defense, Iván Velásquez, on Tuesday morning in statements to the media, referring to the ceasefire and hostilities of the Military Forces against the National Liberation Army, Eln.
In addition, he explained that, even if the ceasefire exists, the operations of the Military Forces and the National Police in repressing criminal activities such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, the illicit extraction of mining deposits, extortion and forced displacement, among others, will continue, because “it is a constitutional and legal duty to protect the entire community, as established in the Security, Defense and Citizen Coexistence Policy,” Velásquez said.
On the other hand, the head of the Ministry of Defense referred to the Democracy Plan, a program designed by the Military Forces and the National Police to work to increase security throughout the national territory, of the elections scheduled for the second semester of 2023, where regional leaders are to be elected.
In this regard, Minister Velásquez informed that within the Democracy Plan, the number of Police units and Military Forces is in mind, the way to act in a combined way, in some regions, the assistance to the polling stations, and the support for the proselytizing activity of the candidates.
“The commitment of the government is for all candidates of any tendency, of any ideology and, precisely, in what we have said regarding the repositioning, which is the beginning of operations in the four departments [Putumayo, Caquetá, Guaviare and Meta] in which the ceasefire with the Central General Staff was suspended," Velásquez highlighted.
On the other hand, the minister recognized the dedication of the Military Forces, in the case of the finding of four indigenous minors in the jungle between the departments of Caquetá and Guaviare, as well as the participation of the indigenous people.
In that sense, the Minister said that, surely, next week there will be a ceremony of recognition of the military commandos and the indigenous people who participated, but, in addition, “of this so close relationship, of generating so much trust between the Military Forces and the indigenous people who participated in Operation Esperanza.”
“The rapprochement, the knowledge, the recognition of the other lead to eliminating preventions and lead to form, what the President has called, the important need for a people's alliance with Military Forces,” the Minister concluded.
Source: Defense Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defense
