The Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, assured that the release of the people detained for allegedly having participated in the marches of the self-styled ‘First Line’, in the south of Bogotá, was not through the intermediation of the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Gustavo García, but because of the “insufficient evidence to present them before a judge”.
“The release was not through the mediation of the Vice Minister of the Interior, the release within what General Henry Sanabria informed me and almost that, at the very moment of the decision, it was due to insufficient evidence to present them before a judge, that was the real reason for the release of the young people, “he said.
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Meanwhile, the head of the Defense portfolio pointed out that the Vice Minister’s mission was to mediate with the people who were protesting in the capital.
“the mediation, the dialogue that Vice Minister García was with the young people who were protestingaware of the detention of these two young people who were in the tank, went to see them too, “he said.
Similarly, he stated that “the Ministry of the Interior has a fundamental role, in all actions, as has been seen when there are roadblocks, when there are protests in communities, there is always a delegation from the ministry that, in the first instance, it goes so that through dialogue the difficulties are solved, the claims that are presented”.
“That same task was that of yesterday and to which, at least during these two months that I have been in charge of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior has always assumed in a very constant, permanent relationship that we have with the minister Prada and me,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Minister Velásquez maintained that “Since the beginning of the government of President Petro, it has always been said that we must initially try to solve conflicts through dialogue and that is the work carried out by the Ministry of the Interior, sometimes it is not possible for a solution to be reached through dialogue, the protesters intend to take forceful actions and the Public Force reacts”.
