The president of the Senate, Álvaro Elizalde (PS), explained that the government has “practically ready” the reform proposal that would establish a new intermediate constitutional state of exception, which would allow the Armed Forces to protect the country’s routes and highways. It will be processed with maximum speed in Congress.
Elizalde addressed this after participating in a meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Siches, the Undersecretary of the same portfolio, Manuel Monsalve, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Raúl Soto (PPD) and various truck leaders affected by acts of violence.
“The government has presented us with its initiative to present a proposal that establishes a state of protection and safeguarding of roads and routes, in order to guarantee the safety of those who travel along the roads throughout the country,” said the president. of the Senate.
“In this context, we have proposed a mechanism for this initiative to be processed quickly and, therefore, in a relatively short time, the National Congress will rule on the matter,” he added.
Elizalde recalled that “a mixed commission was created some time ago regarding a project known as critical infrastructure, which was approved by the Senate and was not approved by the Chamber of Deputies. In that commission, the proposal of the Executive”.
“That is going to allow this week to call the mixed commission, to resolve the controversies that were generated with this project and in that context address the proposal that the Executive has proposed. As president of the Senate I am going to call the constitution of the mixed one as soon as possible,” he added.
On the other hand, the president of the Lower House, Raúl Soto, stated that “we have conveyed to the leaders that in matters of public security as a State we will act together. As the minister and the undersecretary have rightly said, in matters of security there must be a transversal State policy and that is what we have come to represent today as the Legislative Power”.
“Between tomorrow and Wednesday, the president of the Senate will probably be able to summon this mixed commission. We have already sent the names that will make it up and once it is constituted, the Executive will present this text proposal that will allow reaching a transversal agreement to support the protection of the routes in the southern macrozone,” he concluded.
