The intimidation of the civilian peasant population, which is accused by soldiers of the National Army in the municipality of Tierralta, in Córdoba, opened a new front of discussion between President Gustavo Petro and Attorney General Francisco Barbosa.
After becoming aware of the situation, the command of the Seventh Commission of the National Army issued a statement in which it assured that the uniformed men involved in these acts in the village of Bocas del Manso were soldiers of the N. Infantry Battalion 33rd Battle of Junin.
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The soldiers, who would be part of the Eleventh Brigade of the National Army, are accused of intimidating several farmers, including women and children, in the Bocas del Manso village of Tierralta, Cordoba.
Regarding this situation, President Gustavo Petro said that “the return to paramilitarism and land expropriation would be the worst military mistake of the public authorities.” “That cannot happen in this government. It is the same army that, alongside the government, must publicly present its own investigation into these events,” said the head of state on his X account (formerly Twitter).
Petro also pointed out that “it is the army itself that, alongside the government, must publicly present its own investigation into these events.” This statement was questioned by prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, who told Petro that “the investigative functions in this country do not lie in his head, but in the head of the Attorney General’s Office.”
The factor that aggravated the situation was the attack suffered by the team of representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General while heading to the area to launch an interdisciplinary investigation into the incidents.
“We will send a letter to the President of the Republic expressing our concern that members of the judiciary of public power cannot adequately carry out their duties in the national territory,” Barbosa said in a press conference.
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In addition, the prosecutor criticized that “there are no investigative guarantees in Colombia. The National Army The army does not provide security guarantees for the Colombian justice system and the Attorney General’s Office.”
In the videos that revealed the events, the uniformed officers can be seen pointing their pistols and long-range weapons at the people, who were accompanied by babies in their arms and children.
One of the soldiers even removed the safety of his weapon and pointed it for several seconds at the person who was recording the moment on his cell phone. On another occasion, they tried to confront a woman who was holding her baby.
“You don’t tell me to keep quiet because I have rights and you are violating them. They are criminals. Let’s see if they are able to shoot me with my son in my arms. Tell me if that seems fair to you: compare yourself to us who have no way to defend ourselves,” the mother said to the armed man.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez called the incident “extremely serious” and promised “drastic” sanctions for the uniformed officers involved.
