The department of Cauca has become a focus of conflict that impacts the lives of hundreds of people. According to Camilo González, chief negotiator of the national government with the dissidents of the FARC Central General Staff, the region is experiencing the most critical wave of violence in the country.
In dialogues with RCN Radio, González stated that this problem has accounted for the highest percentage of armed confrontations and damage to the population.
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“We came from a situation in March where nine serious situations occurred in Cauca compared to the 27 in the entire country, for the month of April and May there are 50 situations in Cauca and 75 at the national level, which means that the Cauca concentrates the armed confrontations, damage to the population and the most serious terror situations throughout Colombia.“said the chief negotiator.
In this way, the leader in the peace dialogues with the Central General Staff explained that the violence suffered by Cauca has transformed the panorama of the negotiations and also generated the suspension of the Peace dialogues.
“In our delegation, dialogue and table commitments are maintained with the Briceño and Magdalena Medio blocks that remain at the table. With the others there are no negotiations or conversations at this time,” he added.
Thus, González assured that the situation is extremely critical in the face of “this panorama of attacks as brutal as those we have seen in Morales and now in Los Robles, in Popayán, with armed confrontations in Toribio, because it has darkened the entire panorama and has suspended the dialogues”, he detailed.
The chief negotiator held RCN Radio that the population expects a response from the national government in the face of the complicated situation in this region of the country. Furthermore, he confirmed that he has not received instructions from President Gustavo Petro to resume dialogues or return to the conversation tables with the dissidents of the Western bloc in Cauca.
On the afternoon of Friday, June 7, a terrorist attack was reported in Popayán, Cauca, where criminals threw explosives from a dump truck toward the Police command of the department’s capital. At least two uniformed officers were injured.
The President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, spoke out on the matter, pointing out that peace talks are at risk due to this type of incident. On the morning of Saturday, June 8, the national leader sent a clear message to the criminal structures, in particular to the Central General Staff of the FARC dissidents, warning about the possible cancellation of the peace talks.
The head of state stated that there will be no talks as long as criminal structures do not abandon illicit economies and violent activities associated with drug trafficking. Furthermore, he stressed that the military offensives will continue.
Petro indicated that the National Army has the order to neutralize the Central General Staff (EMC) in Cauca and Valle del Cauca, the territories where the recent terrorist attacks were recorded.
In the same publication, the President of the Republic maintained that the FARC dissidents keep the civilian population subdued through violence, with the aim of maintaining their businesses related to drug trafficking.
“The subjugation that the EMC exercises in Cauca is only to maintain its greed. Therefore, their achievements are the death of civilians,” he added. The president pointed out that the recent terrorist attack is a response to the operations of the public force in López de Micay, one of the municipalities of Cauca.
According to Petro, this municipality is key in the EMC’s illicit operations. “The placing of bombs against the population is their response to the military offensive in Micay, where they carry out their illicit cocaine businesses,” he stated.
