“We will have military objectives and we do not want children to be victims,” is one of the phrases read in an alleged intimidating pamphlet that circulated through social networks and instant messaging platforms, where they give a warning to the inhabitants of the townships of Seville and Guacamayal, jurisdiction of the Banana Zone.
The paper, apparently signed by the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, also known as Clan del Golfo, began to circulate in the area since Monday morning and asks teachers not to summon students to classes during this week, which has in mind alerts the community, who are immersed in uncertainty as a result of intimidation.
The pamphlet states: “Dear people of the zone, we are warning all public and private institutions not to summon children to classes this week. We will have military objectives. We do not want children to be victims, especially the people of Seville and Guacamayal.”
Faced with this situation, the local authorities took these threats seriously and for this reason Mayor Clareth Olaya held an extraordinary security council to guarantee the right to education and the safety of students, parents and teachers, where she met with ICBF, Prosecutor’s Office , Police, Army, Ombudsman’s Office, Secretary of the Interior of the Department and Education, Secretary of the Interior and Municipal Citizen Coexistence, Family Commissioner, Education Coordination, Person’s Office.
At the end of the meeting, he announced that the origin of the pamphlet and its authorship will be investigated, in addition to guaranteeing that the Police and the Army will provide support to monitor school activity in public and private institutions.
Without certainty about whether the pamphlet is genuine or if it involves common criminal actions, the local leader said that it was sent to public force intelligence for verification, in order to confirm or distort. Hours later the Police confirmed that said document is untrue. “However, our public force guarantees that our girls, boys and adolescents can attend classes normally. In addition, the respective verifications will be carried out in the institutions, providing support, especially in the towns of Guacamayal and Seville, for our student population so that they can receive their classes normally.”
They also agreed to install a Unified Command Post where all entities will be in contact to be attentive to what happens this week of classes. “From the municipal administration, my duty is to ensure that our children’s right to education is not violated,” the mayor emphasized.
POLICE STATED
The commander of the Magdalena Police Department, Colonel Javier Duarte, spoke about the warnings to the educational centers in the towns of Sevilla and Guacamayal, so that they will not carry out the working day during this week, “According to the analysis carried out by judicial investigators, verified and it was found that this message is apocryphal, and does not have the symbolic self-denomination and ideology, commonly carried out by criminals from the Gulf Clan.”
Likewise, the colonel confirmed that police accompaniment was available to the different educational institutions, deploying all capacity to guarantee the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents.
“Intelligence and criminal investigation officials of the Magdalena Police continue the investigations to establish responsibilities for the irresponsible dissemination of this document that generated concerns in the community,” said the senior officer who invited the community to report any fact that seeks to affect the security in the municipality of Zona Bananera.
THEY WILL HAVE GUARANTEES
For his part, the governor, Rafael Martínez, also joined the concern that exists over the violation of the safety of children in the classrooms of Zona Bananera and was attentive to the conclusion of the security council in that municipality.
In defense of the lives of the people of Magdalen, in an articulated manner the Secretariats of the Interior and Education addressed the public order situation that attempted to destabilize the tranquility of the educational community of Zona Bananera.
In this regard, Yesid González, Departmental Secretary of Education, stated that on the part of the institutions and the military and police authorities, a message of tranquility is sent to all citizens. “We invite the entire student community to attend classes in complete peace of mind. From today, and as many days as necessary, uniformed Police and Army personnel deploy operations in the streets and rural areas of the municipality, so that there is no unrest on the part of the zoners, students, teachers and parents,” said the official who added that in relation to the intimidation pamphlet, according to judicial investigations, it was due to a setup that should not affect citizen safety in any way.
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