A total of 66 soldiers, who were carrying out registration and control tasks, They remain detained in a rural area of the Guaviare department, in southern Colombia, by people who identified themselves as members of the “peasant guards“, who detained them on Friday, the Army reported on Monday.
“Communities must understand that organized armed groups are organizations outside the law that will not respect their rights. Removing public forces from the territories means leaving them at the mercy of criminals who can kill them at any time with impunity.“, he accused the commander of Joint Command Number 3, General Raúl Vargas.
Vargas explained that they have had “permanent contact” with the commanders of these units, who “Every hour they make a radio report and state that this large number of residents impede their mobility and have not allowed them to relocate their position.“.
He added that “there has been no aggression of any kind” between the parties and insisted that the members of the security forces were carrying out “their legitimate duties.”
Currently, A delegation from the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Ombudsman’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office and the Guaviare government are mediating with the community for the release of the military.
According to information from the Omega Joint Task Force Command, The soldiers were intercepted on Friday, August 9, in a rural area of San José del Guaviare, the departmental capital by alleged “members of the peasant guards of the Chuapal and Bocas de Caño Cafra villages, municipality of San José del Guaviare.”
Initially, a group of 100 soldiers was detained, although some of them were later released.
The troops were there to combat the presence of a FARC dissident group led by alias ‘Cancharino’, who, through pamphlets, summoned merchants in the department of Meta and San José del Guaviare, “forcing them to close their businesses between July 22 and 26 of this year.”
Government warning to dissidents
Regarding this situation, the Colombian Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, warned on Sunday, August 11 that the ceasefire of the Government with the ‘Jorge Suárez Briceño’ front, of the Central General Staff (EMC), the largest dissident group of the FARC, must reconsider whether 60 soldiers held by that guerrilla group in the department of Guaviare are released.
“The continuation of the kidnapping of soldiers in San José del Guaviare will force us to reconsider the ceasefire with the Jorge Suárez Briceño bloc“said the head of the Defense portfolio on his X account.
Velasquez added that “The three-month extension, valid until October 15, must be suspended if there is no real commitment on the part of this illegal group.” to maintain peace negotiations with the Government.
The Commander of the Military Forces, Admiral Francisco Cubides, He blamed that front of dissidents, headed by Alexander Díaz, alias ‘Calarcá’, for the detention of the soldiers.
According to Admiral Cubides, the population of Guaviare, a department in the south-central part of the country, is forced by the guerrillas to retain the troops.
EFE
