The National Protection Unit (UNP) He assured this Tuesday that The vehicles of that entity cannot transport people who have arrest warrants.as is presumed to have happened with a caravan carrying FARC dissidents that was detained by the Army in northwestern Colombia.
This morning the Army stopped a UNP caravan in the department of Antioquia, which depends on the Ministry of Interiorin which they were traveling Chiefs of a block of the Central Staff (EMC)the main dissident group of the FARC, which is negotiating peace with the Government.
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Among them is Alexander Diaz Mendoza, alias ‘Calarca’who is the commander of the Middle Magdalena Block and one of the EMC negotiators with the Government, but there are also other dissidents who are not part of the group participating in the peace talks. and who apparently have outstanding arrest warrants.
In this regard, the UNP stated “which accompanies the negotiation process between the Government and the ELN (National Liberation Army) and a sector of the EMC, as well as other armed groups and therefore implements collective protection schemes for the people indicated by the Office of the Peace Commissioner Counselor“.
UNP procedure regarding the retention of caravan vehicles in Antioquia
At around 9 a.m. today, the director of the National Protection Unit, UNP, learned of the roadblock on the Medellín-Anorí highway (Puente Gabino) of a collective protection scheme…
— National Protection Unit, UNP. (@UNPColombia) July 23, 2024
“Among them are Carlos Eduardo García Téllez, alias ‘Andrey’ and Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias ‘Calarcá’. In the vehicles of the schemes it is prohibited to transport people with arrest warrants, combatants or visit war zones, as well as to provide logistical support to activities, transport supplies and elements that affect the peace policy.“, added the UNP.
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The people in the caravan refused to get out of the trucks, which remain stopped on a road between the Municipalities of Santo Domingo and Barbosa (Antioquia).
The UNP detailed that “For safety reasons, vehicles should not be forced to be open on the road and should therefore be driven to secure infrastructures monitored by the authorities.“.
UNP trucks stopped by the Army
Negotiations with the EMC
Last week, the Government announced the termination of the bilateral ceasefire with the Central General Staffdue to its constant attacks on the civilian population and the Police in the southwest of the country, but it maintained it for three months with three other organizations of that group, including the Magdalena Medio Block.
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The EMC has been in peace talks since last year, but the talks have been hampered by the group’s frequent attacks in the departments of the Cauca, Nariño and Cauca Valleyin the southwest of the country.
Given this situation, Last April, the Government suspended contacts with the faction led by alias ‘Iván Mordisco’which ended the ceasefire in force since the beginning of the year, while maintaining it with the other three groups.
EFE
