Colombia celebrated Independence Day with traditional military parades

The Colombian government celebrated the 213 years of Independence on Thursday with the traditional military parades in Bogotá and the island of San Andrés, where the head of state, Gustavo Petro, presided over the celebration of the national holiday and “celebrated” the ruling of the Court International Court of Justice (ICJ), which rejected Nicaragua’s requests to extend its continental shelf.

Petro, celebrated his first July 20 as president of Colombia in San Andrés, where he ordered the transfer of the military parade to the Colombian overseas territory to celebrate the ICJ ruling of July 13 not to accede to Managua’s requests to expand its continental shelf towards the Colombian archipelago.

“We will request a dialogue with Nicaragua to negotiate the conditions of the right to fish for the Raizal people in the Caribbean. We will speak with Ortega and his government about how, as a result of these new ICJ rulings, we can make it prevail that the peoples can have the right to fish without being disturbed, they can have rights to their subsistence, they can communicate with each other, that the grandparents of the Costa Mosquitia (Nicaragua) can see their grandchildren in San Andrés and vice versa”, said President Petro in the speech of the patriotic celebrations that he presided over in San Andrés, due to the recent ICJ ruling which determined that Nicaragua cannot extend its border with Colombia beyond the 200 nautical miles that mark the current delimitation.

The islands of Colombia in the Caribbean had already received the celebrations of this national holiday on two occasions. In 2007, former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) took this act to San Andrés for the first time and in 2012, former President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) also transferred the traditional military parade, in the midst of a long dispute between Nicaragua and Colombia. .

After the celebration in San Andrés, some 9,000 members of the military paraded along Avenida Boyacá in Bogotá. The parade was opened by ground troops from the Army, followed by the Navy, the Air Force, and the Police.

“July 20 is excellent, I think better than last year. It is a moment to enjoy with the family, to show support for the military forces and to thank them for all the work they do for the security of the country,” he told the voice of america Olga, a Bogota resident who came out to enjoy the military parade.

Meanwhile, one of the retired soldiers from the Colombian army who participated in the patriotic celebration said that “Colombians have a wonderful country that we must continue to support and protect” and remarked that the “cry for independence will always be in everyone’s hearts.” .

Subsequently, the different special units of armored military personnel, artillery, amphibians, cavalry, paratroopers, special forces and military engineers paraded, as well as the aerial presentation of the Kfir supersonic planes that flew through the skies of the Colombian capital along with combat helicopters.

Astrid Navarrete, who came with her entire family to experience this celebration, told the VOA that every year he goes out to enjoy these wonderful celebrations with his children.

“Colombia is a spectacular country, our land is represented here in this military parade because the army represents the entire song, all the Colombian institutions represent us. Long live Colombia! Damn! “, He affirms while his family observed in detail each military maneuver in the celebration.

Soldiers wounded in combat and various blocks of historical and period soldiers also joined the rhythm of the march.

After these Independence Day celebrations in San Andrés and in the Colombian capital, President Gustavo Petro traveled to Bogotá, where he will install the new legislature of Congress this Thursday. The president will give a speech before the Senate and the Chamber and will begin the legislative session, where he will again seek the approval of the social reform package that did not pass in the first legislature.