“Ladies and gentlemen, vacate the building.” The threat of a bomb in the Valle del Cauca Assembly, in the facilities that were the old San Luis school, interrupted daily work on April 11, 2002.
It was 10:15 in the morning on April 11, 22 years ago, when a group of men in camouflage, boots, rifles on their shoulders, German shepherd dogs and even megaphones in hand, They began to surround the complex and, once inside, they insisted to all the officials and visitors that an evacuation was imminent in that infrastructure in the heart of Cali and a few meters from the Department’s Government.
Inside the premises, the uniformed officers made the 12 deputies leave towards the street, where a bus was waiting for them, parked on the corner of Carrera 9 and Calle 8. It was less than two blocks from the Government building, called the Palace. from San Francisco.
Some of the assembly members managed to communicate by telephone with their relatives, telling them that, apparently, members of the Public Force were going to put them to death.
except.
But in the middle of the trip to some unknown place towards the mountains of the immense Farallones range, in the southwest of the city, those uniformed men revealed that they were from the FARC by order of the ‘Joint Command of the West’ and that they were already kidnapped. .
Now, the dissidents of the FARC of the ‘Estado Mayor Central (Emc)’ would have intentions to kidnap the deputies of Valle, 22 years after the first kidnapping, and also deputies of Cauca. The commander of the Joint Command No. 2 of the Southwest, Major General Érik Rodríguez, alerted the commander of the Valle Police, Colonel Giovanni Cristancho, about this possibility. The colonel said that it is a possibility that is subject to verification.
Given the fear felt by the current deputies of Valle del Cauca, Governor Dilian Francisca Toro announced an extraordinary security council. According to the president, she is working in coordination with the Army and the Police.
“Since we were alerted of these plans to kidnap deputies of the Valle assembly, we have worked jointly with the Public Force in the analysis and evaluation of risks,” said Governor Toro.
“It is the intelligence that is acting in anticipation of an event that could happen. We have to be calm, it has not been something that has already been verified, but that intelligence is what has given us the possibility of anticipating the events and the Police are already acting,” said the governor.
Valle Police Commander He specified that “investigative protocols and processes have also been activated with human and technical sources for the search and collection of information to determine if there really is some type of intention. Security studies of the Assembly, controls for its entry are being carried out; A Police service was reinforced with permanent accompaniment to the deputies and in the municipalities.”
Meanwhile, Major General Rodríguez highlighted that “this event exists as a sign that there is a capacity for anticipation and there is fluid communication between the institutions, between the National Police and Army and also the authorities of the department.”
Likewise, Toro has stressed that there are Army combats to counter dissidents in areas of the Central mountain range, where a new faction emerged, the ’57 Yahír Bermúdez’ front, of the FARC, after disagreements between leaders in the ‘Adan front’. Left’. However, the same national ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, speaks of alliances with the ‘Dagoberto Ramos’ front.
The president of the Valle del Cauca assembly, Felipe López, said: “I think that above all we must remain calm and I have asked the deputies to remain calm.” He pointed out that the Public Force has been carrying out operations, “in a vehement exercise in the mountainous area around Valle del Cauca. Those affected seek to intimidate and generate fear.”
López also expressed: “We categorically reject the threats from the bandits. We are not going to be intimidated. The work we have been doing has been consistent and vehement with the departmental government and, of course, we have had the support of the Army and of the Police, headed by Governor Dilian Francisca Toro, who has ordered, through the Secretary of Administrative Development, the strengthening of access to the (Assembly) building.”
He said that the ordinary and extraordinary sessions will continue in the corporation, the old building where the San Luis school operated, to carry out future debates on the department’s Development Plan.
“There are more of us good guys and from the Departmental Assembly we send a resounding message. Crime is not going to prevail in Valle del Cauca. These are intimidations that the bandits use because they are hitting them hard, because the Public Force is giving results,” he noted. the president of the corporation. “All Vallecaucans deserve to live calmly and in peace in our territory. In our Valle del Cauca there are more good people than bad ones,” he asserted.
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But he stated: “The criminals are not going to beat us, they are not going to intimidate us.” He recalled blows in Algeria, in Cauca, where on April 24 a motorcycle bomb exploded that fortunately left no fatalities or serious injuries. At the same time, the most recent operation by the Military Forces left, at least, 15 alleged members of the dissidents killed in the area of the El Plateado district, in Algeria, where the ‘Carlos Patiño’ front has a strong presence, but at the same time, there are disputes with the ‘Segunda Marquetalia’. There are also other groups, including paramilitaries and the ELN in the Cauca area.
López maintained that the Public Force presented an assessment of deficiencies, in order to give it tools to strengthen itself. “We have the shirt on for our department.”
Valle del Cauca deputy Mariluz Zuluaga stated: “We want to express enormous concern about the possible threats from the central bloc ‘Carlos Patiño’. It is important to mention that our work consists of moving to the rural area and listening to the communities. Trying to silence our exercise as assembly members causes sadness.” The representative added that she makes an urgent call to the departmental government, the Military Forces and the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, to guarantee the safety of her and her other colleagues.
“We regret this alert against our security,” he said. Deputy Rafael Rodríguez, who is president of the Security Commission in the Valley assembly. “We call on the National Government to make an urgent and immediate presence in our department. Our department cannot tolerate another public order situation. What is happening in Tuluá with the councilors and its mayor; what is happening in Jamundí and Cartago We hope to visit our department without any problem. We demand the presence of the National Government to solve the serious problems we have,” he declared.
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The seriousness of the situation is so great that he stated that approximately a week ago, two deputies, including him, received threats that were left under the door of the departmental Assembly.
“It is being studied by the Attorney General’s Office, who is behind these threats, although in my case, they were made by the dissidents ‘Jaime Martínez’ and ‘Dagoberto Ramos’.
“What worries us is the passivity and pachydermy of the institutions because up to this moment, despite the fact that they have carried out studies, support, and risk analysis, absolutely nothing has been done,” he added.
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So far, the Cauca Assembly has not issued an official statement on this dissident plan.
CAROLINA BOHÓRQUEZ AND MICHEL ROMOLEROUX
TIME CORRESPONDENTS
#Colombia
