Colombia prioritizes security at COP16 in the face of alleged threats from armed groups against the conference

The security plan for the United Nations biodiversity summit, known as COP16, has become a priority for Colombian authorities after threatening messages from alleged armed groups circulated against the event to be held in October in Cali, southwest of the Andean country.

Defense Minister Iván Velásquez told reporters on Wednesday that he will travel to Cali on Friday to meet with local authorities and inspect the facilities where the event will take place from October 21 to November 1, 2024.

Velásquez assured that “there will be sufficient security” for COP16which he highlighted as a commitment of President Gustavo Petro’s government.

“We will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and success of COP16. We are closely monitoring the situation and the validity of the messages circulating on social media,” the statement added.

This is in response to a message posted by a recently created X account, formerly Twitter, which claims to be a dissident group of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, in which it states that “COP16 will fail even if the city is militarized by gringos.”

The COP16 Organizing Committee The US issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the security of summit participants is the “top priority,” and that a security plan is being implemented in Cali and the surrounding regions.

The Minister of Defense, without giving full credibility to the messages, said that the FARC dissidents are illegal structures that “have shown their terrorist intent by using drones and we have to guarantee that in the cities of Cali, in the spaces where COP16 will take place, there is no risk in any sense.”

In the southwest of the country, in Valle del Cauca —the department where Cali is located— and Cauca, several attacks with explosives have been reported, which have left at least six dead and more than a dozen wounded between May and June. Most of them have been attributed by the authorities to the FARC dissident group that calls itself the Central General Staff, which did not accept the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the guerrillas and the State.

The day before the minister’s statements, the government ended a bilateral ceasefire with the majority of the troops of the Central General Staff under the command of alias “Iván Mordisco” who left a peace negotiation table with the government that was installed in October 2023. The structures of “Mordisco” commit crimes in Valle del Cauca, according to the military forces.

“All security guarantees are in place to ensure a successful and smooth conference. We send a message of reassurance to all participants, delegates, media and stakeholders,” the COP16 organizing committee said.

The previous meeting, COP15was developed in 2022 in Montreal, Canada, and achieved the adoption of a global framework for biological diversity that included among its goals the protection of 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

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