After listening to the indigenous communities of Cauca on their security problems, during an expanded security council that was held in the municipality of Caldono, the Minister of Defense Iván Velásquez announced the increase of number of units of Military Forces for that department.
According to the minister, there is a need for a greater presence of the National Army to increase territorial control and curb the mobility of members of illegal armed groups. In addition, he spoke about the possibility of adding National Police personnel, as has been being implemented in other regions of the country, so that with greater intelligence the phenomenon of extortion can be countered.
During this expanded Security Council, in which the military and police commanders, the governor of the department, the mayors of Jambaló and Miranda, and representatives of other ministries participated, the progress of recently assumed commitments was reviewed.
Other issues were in the same way addressed, such as the problem of the illegal recruitment of minors by armed groups and the need for roads improvement, which is why Minister Velásquez announced the dispatch of military engineers to support the tasks of recovering the road network hit by more than 80 percent by the wave caused by rains.
In this work activity in Caldono, Cauca, a more private security meeting was in the same way held with the top military and police commanders, where, among other topics, the special case of the Caldono parish priest, Father Javier Porras, was attended, who was personally invited by the minister to this meeting, after armed men shot at his vehicle 36 times at the beginning of the month.
"Solidarity with Father Porras for the recent attack he suffered, which could have been directed against him, but in any case could involve some operation against the church itself, those are issues that are the subject of research, but I wanted anyway here in Caldono, in a direct way as we have already done personally, to express our solidarity to Father Porras," the Defense Minister highlighted.
During the activity, Minister Velásquez in the same way met in Cali with the members of the land and security table of the north of Cauca, with whom he analyzed how to move forward to reach definitive solutions.
-In the municipality of Caldono, Cauca, the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez led a meeting with communities to seek solutions not only for security, but in the same way of the improvement of people's living conditions, such as roads and social programs.
-Increased presence of the National Army to improve territorial control and increased police intelligence to counter the phenomenon of extortion are some of the security measures for Cauca.
Source: Defense Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defense
