A serious complaint was made known on the afternoon of May 1, on a road in Huila, a department that has been seriously affected by the expansion of the Central General Staff of the FARC dissidents.
According to what is known by The country of Cali, the events would have occurred on the morning of a holiday Wednesday, in which a group of heavily armed men, wearing military clothing and rubber boots, self-proclaimed as members of the aforementioned guerrilla, carried out an illegal checkpoint on the Aipe-Natagima highway, in which they took advantage of the control to steal two vans and intercept the driver of a public service bus.
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In addition to sources from the military forces, known to El País, the account of the events was confirmed by the user @juanisch89 on “For many years traveling to Neiva, it is the first time I have seen a FARC checkpoint, they intimidated us, they stole a turbo and a truck, like in the old days.”
It should be noted that the presence of the subversives has been alerted repeatedly, because, in March 2024, the fronts Iván Díaz and Dario Gutierrezthey would have summoned farmers and merchants from the rural areas of some municipalities of the department to collect vaccinations:
“Cordial revolutionary greetings from the Farc EP, through this notification we address you to be present on 03-24-2024 or send a delegate to the Las Juntas district school in the San Andrés Tello district, at 10:00 am Don’t miss thank you (sic)”, indicated the invitation known by the former political leader Jaime Felipe Lozada, which is signed by the block commander Jorge Suárez Briceño of the Darío Gutiérrez front.
Additionally, the child school population has also been affected by extortion, since they are ad portas to stop receiving their food rations as part of the School Feeding Program.
It is estimated that more than 3,300 students will be harmed by the measure adopted by the Departmental Government in response to pressure and threats of extortion by dissident groups in the region.
The decision will impact 2,121 students from rural areas and 1,087 from urban areas, who from Monday, May 6, will not have the lunches and nutritional reinforcements that they used to receive in their educational centers, putting their food security and their right to education at risk.
The determination of the temporary cessation of the PAE arises after the intimidating actions carried out by the dissidents of the ‘Iván Díaz’ and ‘Darío Gutiérrez’ fronts, which are in the territory, towards the operators and workers in charge of the program. These pressures have caused an atmosphere of widespread fear, affecting not only the delivery of food but also the job stability of around 70 employeesmostly women, who have been displaced from their jobs due to this critical situation.
The Secretary of Education of Huila, Orlando Parga Rivas, referred to the measure taken in the municipality of Algeciras, emphasizing the impact that this suspension has on the well-being and permanence of boys and girls in the educational system. He assures that the measure, although necessary to protect the lives of the program operators and guarantee their safety, has direct consequences on the nutrition and learning of the students.
“For reasons of security and guarantees to reach urban and rural educational institutions, the PAE is temporarily suspended“said the official.
