( Spanish) – The military presence in the town of El Plateado, a rural area of the municipality of Argelia, Cauca, will be permanent, announced this Sunday the Minister of Defense of Colombia, Iván Velásquez. The territory has been controlled by dissident structures of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as previously expressed by the Colombian Army.
“Control has really been established in El Plateado, something that has not happened at least in the last six years. The presence will be permanent, but not only of the Public Force, it is above all the presence of the Government as a whole to develop social programs,” said Velásquez.
The minister’s announcement occurred within the framework of the visit of a delegation sent by President Gustavo Petro, to tour said district. According to the Ministry of Defense, government representatives spoke with the community about institutional intervention in the region that has been under the control of different armed groups, especially FARC dissidents.
In addition to the Minister of Defense, the Ministers of Agriculture, Health, Environment, Technology, and Education attended, as well as the Risk and Disaster Unit and the Colombian Office of Social Prosperity.
On Saturday, several attacks that authorities attributed to dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) left at least 17 people injured in El Plateado, according to the South American country’s Ombudsman’s Office.
The Colombian Army indicated that the attacks, attributed to the “Carlos Patiño” structure of the FARC, were a response to the Perseo operation that the Armed Forces, the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office deployed this Saturday to regain control of El Plateado.
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