"They wanted to go into Hidroituango's engine room these weeks and our soldiers were there," he revealed.
During the debate on the motion of censure held in the Senate, the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, explained how military assistance has been carried out in the framework of the national strike in Colombia and said that “it is a support for the police when a situation can not be controlled, it does not replace the civil authority, it is a support providing protection and security.”
He highlighted that this accompaniment of the National Army was approved by Congress, when the law was issued to allow the military to provide assistance on occasions when the police need support to strengthen security.
Molano said that military assistance has been used in both Popayán and Valle del Cauca.
In Cali, it served, in particular, to provide security to the MIO stations (city transport system) and prevent vandalism.
"Military assistance does not replace any civilian authority, military assistance is support for the protection of the nation's strategic assets,” he said.
The Minister of Defense revealed that, in other places, such as the La Salvajina water reservoir (Cauca) and Hidroituango (Antioquia), military assistance has prevented damage from being committed.
"They sought to take La Salvajina, get inside La Salvajina, there were the Colombian soldiers protecting La Salvajina, they wanted to get in these weeks to the Hidroituango engine room and there were our Colombian soldiers protecting a strategic asset of the nation, that is the military assistance,” he said.
“I'm going to point out here, there were people seeking to damage the normal operation of the fuel infrastructure and military did not allow it, in the Putumayo our National Army protected the infrastructure of petroleum, since there were people seeking to damage the supply of gasoline to the department of Valle after it was restricted in Yumbo, after several attacks, by vandals, but thanks to the soldiers of Colombia this strategic asset was is protected,” said the Minister of Defence.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence
