On the followingnoon of Wednesday, August 24, part of the presidential motorcade was attacked with rifle shots at a time when they were heading towards the Catatumbo region to advance the planned visit that President Gustavo Petro will make in this territory in the coming days.
Three trucks from the National Protection Unit (UNP) that were traveling with the security scheme of the president and the Minister of the Interior, towards the municipality of El Tarra, Norte de Santander, via the Convection-Teorama route, were detained.
WEEK had access to some images showing how one of the official vans was hit by the rifle shots. It is a white truck with EAR 001 license plates from Palmira, Valle del Cauca.
In the images it can be seen that the vehicle He was hit with at least four shots. Three in the back, and one on the left side.
“The Intelligence Units in the Jurisdiction of the municipality of El Tarra delivered preliminary information on the attack with long-range firearms, to vehicles that were heading to the municipality to join the caravan of the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petrofor an event that was scheduled in this sector of the country”, they reported from the Presidency of the Republic.
They also reported that the incident occurred promptly in the San Pablo sector (El Tarra), when at least six subjects would have installed an illegal checkpoint. It was at that moment that the caravan ignored the ‘stop’, which is why they were hit with firearms.
“In this event, one of the vehicles failed to pass the checkpoint and another was punctured. Two vehicles and a driver from the National Protection Unit (UNP) were held there. who was later released”, they added.
Meanwhile, the other vehicles and their crew managed to pass the checkpoint. Likewise, they reported that following what happened, the people who were in the attacked vehicles were finally under the protection of the authorities.
“The authorities, the UNP and the Ministry of Defense are at the forefront of the situation”, concluded this Wednesday from the Presidency of the Republic.
“This is what must end in the country”
The president, Gustavo Petro, reacted to the fact on his Twitter account, calling for an end to the violence in the country.
“This is what must end in the country. No more violence. Although only things were affected and humans were savedthe work of the government will continue to be determined that it is time for Peace”, said the head of state.
Likewise, the mayor of Teorama, Robinson Salazar Benítez, rejected in an interview with WEEK this situation that once once more alters public order in Norte de Santander in the midst of a possible dialogue process with the ELN.
“The truth is very worrying, For us, President Petro’s visit to Catatumbo is a historic visit that will surely come to solve structural problems and that if this situation happens, we believe that it goes once morest the interests of the community. and it is a situation that we have to categorically reject and condemn,” said the local president, at the same time that he mentioned that a security scheme should be deployed in this region before the president’s visit.
Similarly, Diego Villamizar, defender of rights in this region, also expressed his concern because he pointed out that so far this year there have been more than 100 terrorist actions once morest the authorities in this territory.
“The security and public order situation in Catatumbo is very serious, here it was clearly a terrorist attack and kidnapping once morest the presidential security, this is a sign that the criminal groups do not have the slightest desire for peace, the situation was complex , the officials were terrified by the fact. We hope that the president as commander and head of the Armed Forces. MM. act on this fact. This situation is experienced daily in Catatumbo, on the roads there are illegal checkpoints of these groups and the civilian population is the victims of these miraculous catches, where kidnappings and extortions take place”, asserted the defender in WEEK.
