Delivering bats and clubs to merchants, a Huila councillor plans to combat insecurity

In order to address the wave of insecurity that is going through the municipality of Pitalito, in Huila, Councilman Diego Vargas launched a controversial proposal: to equip the town's merchants with bats, as a form of protest against the lack of action by the municipal authorities.

In dialogue with the Diario del Huila, the lobbyist said that he would distribute these elements in the commercial sector of Pitalito throughout this Saturday, given the concern expressed by the community in general about the insecurity in the Huilense municipality.

In an interview with Blu Radio, the councilman also clarified that the idea of the initiative is not to incite acts of violence in the municipality, but, on the contrary, to protest the wave of robberies that have occurred in Pitalito in broad daylight, and against which the authorities have not taken action.

“It is a protest and pedagogical mechanism, since the main heads, instead of denoting order in the city, have not fulfilled their duty as leaders and have not come up with convincing answers to combat the scourge of insecurity in our city,” the lobbyist said at the microphones of the Bogotá radio station.

Although some residents support Vargas's proposal, many others told Caracol Radio that the initiative would only be promoting “self-righteousness.”

In total, the lobbyist will deliver 300 wooden bats to different commercial sectors of the municipality. According to the Pitalito councillor to Blu Radio, the elaboration of the clubs was paid out of the political leader's fees.

Insecurity in Pitalito is also compounded by corruption. In recent hours, Caracol Radio learned that the National Registry Office has endorsed 7,882 signatures out of the 6,952 that were needed to start the process of recalling the mayor of Pitalito, Edgar Muñoz Torres.

According to the same media outlet, after the determination of the electoral body, the governor of Huila will be responsible for setting the date for the Laboyans to decide whether or not they want Muñoz Torres to continue as mayor of Pitalito.

Last November 2021, the spokeswoman of Pitalito's pro-recall committee, María Eugenia Herrera, explained to W Radio's microphones that, due to the alleged waste of public resources evidenced during Muñoz Torres' local mandate, they decided to begin the recall process.

Following the decision of the Registrar's Office, the mayor of Pitalito spoke in a statement in which he assured that, although he respects “the participation processes to which the community is entitled”, his legal team will take appropriate legal action to demonstrate that, “the signatures, in the vast majority do not reflect the will of my constituents.”

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