Armed clashes, rifle bursts, bombs. This is how the week began in southwestern Colombia, where several terrorist attacks occurred this Monday morning. In Morales (Cauca), a municipality of about 40,000 inhabitants located about 40 kilometers from Popayán, the departmental capital, an attack with explosives on the Police station and the Agrario Bank has resulted in the death of two police officers and the robbery of 50 million pesos (around $13,000), according to the National Police. Two hours further north, in Jamundí, in the south of Valle del Cauca, the explosion of a motor bomb in the urban area has left 12 injured, including two police officers and three minors. At the same time, there has been harassment in the Cauca town of Suárez, located at an intermediate point between Morales and Jamundí. The authorities attribute the violence to the so-called Jaime Martínez front, a dissident of the extinct FARC.
Morales and Cauca
Morales has been the most affected municipality. The attack there occurred around six in the morning, when neighbors woke up to the sound of homemade explosives being launched, gunshots and helicopters. Several images published on networks show how a long column of smoke came out of the conflict area, where the police confronted the attackers. The National Police has confirmed that two patrol officers, Jaime Andrés Calderón Reyes and Diego David López Rodríguez, died in the crashes.
To try to support the Police, the Armed Forces sent two helicopters to the area. The dissidents responded with rifle fire, which hit one of the aircraft and forced it to flee. No one was injured in the shooting. According to the commander of the Military Forces, Helder Giraldo, the authorities ordered the movement of troops from the La Salvajina military base, located in Suárez, about 45 minutes by car from Morales. But the armed group expected that movement and attacked the military post almost at the same time.
Mayor Óscar Yamid Guachetá spoke after the attacks with Week. The politician, from the indigenous and leftist party MAIS, regretted what happened and stated that his municipality, located in one of the regions hardest hit by the armed conflict, needs more support from the Executive: “The call I make to the Government of President Gustavo Petro It is that we move forward with the issue of peace dialogues, but that it be forceful, serious, that social investment be made because municipalities like Morales have many needs in roads, infrastructure, education, drinking water, housing, among others. The call is for the Government to set its eyes on Cauca, especially in Morales, in municipalities that today are being attacked by unidentified armed groups.”
The governor of Cauca, Octavio Guzmán, was more critical this Monday of the Administration, which is trying to spread the policy of total peace throughout the Cauca territory. “The option for peace is diluted by the bullets, hatred and resentment of the armed actors in our territory,” tweeted the politician from the Colombia Renaciente party, of the Afro movement. Indeed, in March the Government partially broke the ceasefire that the dissident group known with the Central General Staff (EMC) had, of which the Jaime Martínez front is a part. Due to the constant attacks by the structures of that armed group in the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Nariño, the Administration annulled the truce in southwestern Colombia, in addition to causing a fracture in the weak coordination of the EMC.
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Jamundi
While the crash occurred in the Cauca mountain range, a motor bomb exploded at 6:15 in the morning in the urban area of Jamundí. The attack in a municipality near Cali, also attributed by authorities to the Jaime Martínez front, injured 12 people and destroyed a car and the facade of some nearby buildings. Police Colonel Carlos Oviedo explained to the media that the injured are out of danger. The device detonated 200 meters from a hotel where a hundred police officers were staying who arrived about two weeks ago in the Valle del Cauca municipality, which has a strong presence of illegal economies, to reinforce its security. Alicia Toro, owner of the El Mirador Family Hotel, recounted the experience on Caracol Radio: “We were still lying down when something exploded. The house filled with smoke. The roofs fell down. Windows and doors were destroyed. “They destroyed the entire hotel.”
The director of the National Police, General William Salamanca, reported in a press conference that the authorities have arrested three people in relation to the attack. Furthermore, he has assured that the Police have regained control of the center of the municipality. He has said that there are explosives hidden in part of the urban area, and that the anti-explosives team is currently working there.
As in Cauca, there was harassment after the bomb exploded. In this case, it involved shots fired in two nearby towns, Potrerito and Robles. According to Colonel Oviedo, the Jaime Martínez front has a lot of influence in the rural areas of Jamundí. Precisely, the Ombudsman’s Office issued an alert at the beginning of March due to the human rights violations that, according to it, this illegal group commits in the area. On April 27, Jamundeño councilor John Fredy Gil was shot dead in the middle of the street.
Mayor Paola Castillo asked for national support after the attack. “Today we had this unfortunate event that we repudiate and affects the tranquility of Jamundí. We reiterate that we need all the support at the national level and we need to work in an articulated manner,” said the liberal politician in RCN. The governor of the department, Dilian Francisca Toro, also did so in a statement. “I reiterate the call to the National Government about the need to work jointly, together, for the security of southwestern Colombia and intensify the fight against criminals. Only by working together will we prevent us from losing the department of Valle del Cauca and from going down the unfortunate path of other territories in the southwest,” she declared.
The Government responds
The Government has responded to these calls. President Petro trilled his indignation and announced that he was taking measures: “The situation in Cauca is unacceptable. We will not tolerate continuing to terrorize the population with terrorist attacks. “I have asked the Minister of Defense to immediately move with the entire military leadership to Cauca and establish a permanent security council.” The Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, a native of Cauca, explained this Monday that the attacks occurred due to tensions between the Government and the EMC. “[Los atentados] They are happening because we broke the ceasefire, [las disidencias] They didn’t respect it. And I do believe that the Army and the Police with all their capabilities are going to have to redouble their efforts, because it is not justified for these groups to put us in this situation,” he said.
Petro has also reacted by changing the leadership of the Army. Through a statement, he announced that Luis Emilio Cardozo, a retired general, will replace Luis Mauricio Ospina in the command. He thus recovers a long-serving military man from Valle del Cauca, who had been in retirement since August 2022, when the president came to power and displaced several of the oldest generals. “The national government trusts that the vast experience and leadership of General Cardozo will be fundamental,” the Casa de Nariño has assured.
Cardozo has a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and a master’s degree in Security and Defense. He was commander of the Army’s Air Assault Aviation Division, of the Eighth Division and of the Military Engineers Command, and coordinator of the strategic analysis group of the Ministry of Defense between 2008 and 2010, during the administrations of Juan Manuel Santos, Freddy Padilla de León and Gabriel Silva. His last position before his retirement was being chief of the Army’s operations staff.
Four hours after changing the Army commander, Petro turned to X again to announce that he had left behind the idea of talking with those responsible for this Monday’s attacks. “The offensive against the EMC in Cauca is total,” he declared.
The offensive against the EMC in Cauca is total.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 20, 2024
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