The Christian pastor Jaime Beltrán began the implementation of the padlock plan, his proposal to combat insecurity in Bucaramanga. In the same week of his inauguration, the new mayor announced the issuance of a decree that restricts the consumption of psychoactive drugs within a 60-meter perimeter of parks, educational centers and historical areas. Surrounded by members of the National Police and accompanied by music and religious praise, according to some media reports, he promised to “return” these spaces to the children and families of the city. However, the measure is not new. Another decree issued more than three years ago, almost identical in its content, contemplated this prohibition.
Beltrán, a declared admirer of Nayib Bukele, chose an emblematic point in Bucaramanga to publicize the initiative: San Pío Park. Located in the Cabecera neighborhood, one of the most privileged in the capital of Santander, San Pío is a green lung that serves as a meeting place for thousands of people who daily share with friends, play sports and attend religious services. The number of visitors increases especially on weekends due to the restaurants located on the surrounding streets and the busy San Pio X parish, which stands on its eastern end.
On more than one occasion, throughout the mayoral campaign, Beltrán declared that this and other areas had become “marihuanodromes.” “You arrive at places like San Pío Park and find more consumers than children playing in the park,” he said in October during an interview with Week. In his of drugs on the outskirts of parks. Paradoxically, Beltrán's decision is a replica of a series of provisions taken by the Administration of his predecessor, former mayor Juan Carlos Cárdenas.
It was November 2020 and lawyer José David Cavanzo served as Secretary of the Interior of Bucaramanga. Given a short trip by Cárdenas, it was up to the then secretary to be the mayor in charge for four days, during which time he issued decree 403 of 2020, which established a restriction on “consumption, carrying, distribution, facilitation, offering or commercialization of psychoactive substances (…) in areas of public space or open places.” The resolution also empowered the Police to impose fines, which made it possible for 7,709 summonses to be registered between 2021 and the first half of 2023 for those who violated said mandate.
“Check and you will realize that both decrees [el de 2020 y el recientemente expedido por Beltrán] They include almost the same, except for a few modifications,” warns Cavanzo. The main change referred to is the power for police officers to impose fines, which was repealed last December by the National Government. Néstor Osuna, current Minister of Justice, adjusted the laws to the rulings of the Constitutional Court, which in repeated rulings concluded that the possession and consumption of drugs “cannot be administratively sanctioned.” The episode sparked a wave of indignation among conservative sectors, although all Osuna did was comply with a court order.
Beltrán recognizes this precisely in his decree, literally admitting that the 2020 decree “must be repealed since it does not take into account the recent jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and the regulatory legal framework established by the National Government.” That is, the pastor's decree brings an adjustment and not an innovation if it is compared to that of Cárdenas. Now the Police cannot fine and must limit themselves to ordering consumers and carriers to leave the perimeter of parks and educational centers. ”The new mayor wants to exercise authority and monopolize the news, but he is not doing anything new,” adds former secretary Cavanzo, who will be a councilor for the right-wing Radical Change for the next four years.
Newsletter
The analysis of current events and the best stories from Colombia, every week in your mailbox
RECEIVE THE
The quadrennium has just begun, but Beltrán's seal is evident early on, especially in the way he communicates his actions. He took a measure from his predecessor, adapted it to his security policy and turned it into his first major decision in Local Government.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS newsletter about Colombia and here to the channel on WhatsAppand receive all the information keys on current events in the country.
#Pastor #Beltrán #fan #Bukele #begins #war #drugs #Bucaramanga
