Petro orders 400 soldiers to southern Colombia to bolster security

Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered yesterday, Monday, to send 400 soldiers, six platoons of troops, to the jungle department of Putumayo (south), where at least 18 guerrillas of the FARC dissidents were recently killed, informed an official source.

Government spokesman and Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, commented that the decision to send troops to several border areas seeks to reduce the actions of armed groups dedicated mainly to drug trafficking and has the “collaboration” of the governments of Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Panama.

“We will transfer six additional platoons with 400 soldiers and officers who will be in charge of operations and full control of the territory, increasing the way we will intercept territorially and fluvially all illegal behavior to block drug trafficking corridors to other countries in southern Colombia,” he said.

Last week, at least 18 members of FARC dissidents were killed after a battle between two FARC rebel groups fighting for control of drug trafficking in that area of the country.

The minister commented that in the first 100 days of President Petro’s government, more than 130 people had been captured, especially in Putumayo, linked to irregular groups.

In this sense, Prada commented that every three months, a review of the operational results would be made after the dispatch of uniformed personnel.

“We have established contact with the countries on the border because we have noticed an activity that we are going to combat with our forces, but also with the international collaboration of Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Panama”, declared the official after a security council held at the Casa de Nariño (seat of government) and headed by the head of state.

“We will have contact at the level of the Ministers of Defense, of the force commanders, and with the regional commanders of each of the sectors on the border”, said the official.