3,700 police and Army men work in the Department of Valle del Cauca.
Authorities claim that the procedures of members of the Military Forces have been consistent with respect for Human Rights.
Police reiterates that their units did not enter the neighborhoods of the municipality of Buga and always remained on the Pan-American Road.
Yesterday, since 6:30 in the morning, 270 police men and 2 army battalions are working on the Pan-American Road, near the SENA Bridge in the municipality of Buga, in order to reactivate cargo transport to Cali and the Port of Buenaventura.
During the activity there have been clashes between the Esmad of the police and demonstrators who do not want to leave of the road.
The deputy minister of Defense, Jairo García, who is in the area, insisted that after maintaining for 14 days a dialogue with young people and the local government, the departmental one and the church, it was necessary to restart the logistics chain of the Department.
“We have achieved a coordinated work of the Military Forces and more than 130 trucks are mobilized towards the city of Cali. There are concerns about the damage to public property, to roads, to the trucks that have been burned, to their drivers that we have found frightened by this environment. What we want to do here is to restore order and the supply chain. We needed to return to normality and guarantee the safety of people,” said Deputy Minister García.
For his part, General Fernando Murillo, director of the DIJIN, said that since early they found more than 150 young people who prevented the police procedure, who attack the ESMAD with stones and traumatic weapons.
"Since the first moment there are people who misinform the citizens through videos of the procedure we are doing. They say that ESMAD is entering the neighborhoods of Buga and it is not true, we are on the Pan-American Road, which is a national road. We ask these young people to please leave, and let Colombians to have free mobility on this road route,” Murillo insisted.
During the activity in Buga, 9 police officers of the Esmad and of transit were injured as well as 6 young people who are part of the protest.
On the other hand, of the first day of marches in the city of Cali, the Unified Command Post was organized, in which all the institutions have participated; Municipal Mayor's Office, control institutions such as the inspector's Office, Personería, Defensoría, Governor, military forces and Civil Defense presented a detailed follow-up to the current situation in the capital city of Valle del Cauca.
“Precisely dialogues that were being held in different parts, in different networks people are disseminating alleged police interventions that did not even exist, we are now recovering the streets with the mayor's offices, with municipal agencies, collecting debris, talking to citizens, generating spaces for dialogue and security, " said General Juan Carlos Rodríguez, commander of the Cali Metropolitan Police.
Our Military Forces work tirelessly through dialogue to preserve security and citizen coexistence.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence