President Gustavo Petro and Iván Mordisco, head of a dissident group known as the Central General Staff.
Photo: Colombia Editorial +20
The attacks on Friday in Cauca and Valle del Cauca represented another chapter in the escalation of violence suffered by the departments since March, when President Gustavo Petro ordered the regional lifting of the ceasefire in those two departments and in Nariño with a part of the dissidents of the former FARC, known as Central General Staff (EMC).
In Popayán, around 5:15 pm on Friday, an attack with explosives against the Police command took place. According to the first reports of the incident, the devices would have been thrown from a dump truck towards the station facilities. The attacks left two uniformed officers slightly injured, according to the Police.
Moments before, a car bomb exploded in the park of the Robles district, in Jamundí, Valle del Cauca. The place is one block from the Police station of that district.
So far, those responsible for the attack are unknown. However, reports indicate that they would be groups from the dissident Central General Staff commanded by Ivan Mordisco.
In his X account, President Petro stated: “The order is to neutralize the EMC in Cauca and the Valley.”
The president warned that as long as the illicit economies are not dismantled, there will be no peace talks. “The Central General Staff, EMC, in Cauca, lives off the export of cocaine. That is why he wanted a ceasefire without stopping killing and controlling the population (…) As long as they do not decide to dismantle the illicit economies, there will be no peace talks and the army offensive will be total.“said the president.
Petro also said that the attacks that have occurred in recent weeks are the response of that armed group to the military offensive led by the Ministry of Defense in the Micay canyon, considered the war fortress of Mordisco.
“What the EMC exercises in Cauca is a subjugation of the population just to maintain greed. That is why their achievements are the death of civilians. The stance of bombs against the population is their way of reacting to the military offensive in Micaywhich is where they carry out their illicit cocaine businesses,” the president published.
Although a peace process between the EMC and the Executive has been established since October 2023, in the last two months some structures of the dissident group have divided, following the regional lifting of the ceasefire ordered by the president. In this way, some blocks continued at the dialogue table and others rose, among them the Western Block and the Cauca structures.
“Acts of violence are unacceptable”
Around midnight on Friday, the Presidency issued a statement in which rejected the attacks perpetrated against the public force and the civilian population in both areas. “These acts of violence that seek to undermine the tranquility of the Colombian people are unacceptable,” they expressed from the Casa de Nariño.
The statement also reiterated support for the Military Forces, “who are carrying out an effective offensive against illegal structures that threaten the peace and security of our nation,” they noted.
On Friday there was also a extraordinary security council to evaluate the situation in both departments. The National Army, the Government of Cauca, the Mayor’s Office of Popayán and the Police of the same municipality participated in the meeting.
During the council, it was agreed to articulate the work of all institutions to strengthen security in Cauca, since for some months the wave of violence in the department has been growing.
A month ago, on May 20, there were also explosions by motorcycle bombs, ground assaults, attacks on helicopters and gusts in municipalities such as Miranda, Morales and Suárez (Cauca), and Jamundí (Valle).
Then, Petro also said that the offensive against the EMC would be “total.” The president’s reaction included changes in the leadership of the Army. General Luis Ospina was called to evaluate services and, as announced, His replacement in command will be Luis Emilio CardozoValle del Cauca military man with a long career.
