Two bomb attacks in different parts of Colombia, on Saturday (8), marked President Abelardo de la Espriella’s first day in office, leaving at least one police officer dead and people injured.
A toll station was destroyed by armed groups in the municipality of Santander de Quilichao and, in the department of Cesar, in the north of the country, a police officer was killed after a drone attack.
In the action in Quilichao, the group used explosives to destroy a toll booth that was under construction on the Pan-American highway. The Colombian army says the acts were commanded by Iván Mordisco, a dissident from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Mordisco leads dissidents who broke the historic 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government.
About a thousand kilometers away, in the department of Cesar, in the north of the country, a police officer was killed in another bomb attack in the early hours of Saturday, when a drone loaded with explosives hit a police station. The attack was attributed, by local authorities, to “guerrillas and drug traffickers”.
In another attack, on the 1st, six days before Espriella’s inauguration, at least 11 people were injured after the explosion of a truck loaded with explosives next to a police unit in Cúcuta, a Colombian city close to the border with Venezuela.
“Narcoterrorism”
Far-right leader known for his incisive speech, Espriella promised to combat “narco-terrorism without respite” and end peace negotiations with armed groups.
He began his term by transferring 117 “high-profile” prisoners who participated in peace negotiations with former left-wing president Gustavo Petro to maximum security prisons.
The change of power inaugurates a new approach to the issue of violence. Petro, a former militant of the guerrilla group Movimento 19 de Abril (M-19), became the first left-wing president in the history of Colombia, promising a policy of “Total Peace” in the country, betting on agreements with social actors with a long history of association with cases of violence. De la Espriella, on the other hand, proposes a more direct confrontation. The new president clings to the support of the Donald Trump government in combating drug trafficking and illegal mineral exploration.
De la Espriella condemned the attack on social media, stating that “attacking the country’s infrastructure is attacking progress”. “To those responsible, I send a clear message: there will be no refuge, no clemency, no impunity,” he threatened.
*With information from AFP.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
