Government ensures that the security of Francia Márquez is guaranteed

Alfonso Campo, director of the National Protection Unit, said that Gustavo Petro's vice-presidential formula has a “robust protection scheme”

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Last Sunday, Francia Márquez, vice-presidential candidate for the Historical Pact, denounced through her social networks that she has received several death threats from the self-described 'Black Eagles', a far-right paramilitary group. Therefore, the also environmental activist asked the president, Iván Duque, to ensure her safety and that of other social leaders:

“It is not enough slander, racist demonstrations, but in less than a month I have been threatened with death twice, along with other social leaders. Mr. President Ivan Duque, I ask you to guarantee my physical integrity, that of my family and of the leaders mentioned here,” Gustavo Petro's vice-presidential formula wrote along with a photo of the letters sent by the armed group.

Similarly, Márquez stated that he has already had problems with his security scheme on previous occasions. “I hope that the Attorney General's Office will be able to investigate these facts. I hope impunity won't win this time,” he said in another trill.

Death threats Francia Máquez
Death threats against Francia Márquez. Screenshot

Hours after these alerts, the director of the National Protection Unit (UNP), Alfonso Campo, assured through his Twitter account that the security of Colombian politics is assured, as is that of all candidates in the elections.

“The security of @FranciaMarquezM is guaranteed. It has a robust protection scheme, for the whole country, by @UNPColombia. She and all the candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the Republic receive protection from this government that defends democracy,” said the director in the first instance.

“Following the instructions of Mr. President @IvanDuque, we have articulated with @MinInterior from #PlanAgora || and #PlanDemocracia to extend the entire institutional scope and always put it at the service of democratic guarantees. This is how we fight the violent,” he added.

The UNP ensures that the security of Francia Márquez is guaranteed. Screenshot
Screenshot
The UNP ensures that the security of Francia Márquez is guaranteed. Screenshot
Screenshot

At the end of the day of legislative elections and inter-party consultations, President Duque asserted that, for the first and second presidential rounds, which are scheduled for May and June, respectively, the Government will provide “all the guarantees and all the necessary support to the organization electoral”.

Likewise, the head of state said that security programs and the presence of the security forces at different voting points will continue. “Both the agora plan and the democracy plan are maintained. All security schemes for presidential candidates will be strengthened. The Ministry of the Interior will be in constant contact with them so that they have all the guarantees to carry out their campaigns,” he said.

According to figures from the Ministry of Defense, on the last election day there were about 240,000 uniformed personnel deployed in all the municipalities of the country. The authorities “ensured that the more than 12,200 polling stations can carry out voting freely and safely,” said the head of this portfolio, Diego Molano.

The authorities, for example, are targeting a network of Russian citizens, which would be renting savings accounts from lowly and middle-class people to to deposit large amounts of money to Colombia. An investigation published by Noticias RCN showed that these procedures would be part of a transnational money-laundering and espionage operation, whose objective would be “to finance groups that seek to destabilize public order and interfere with the next election day”.

The Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) tracked money movements since 2018, which would indicate that more than 146 million dollars had been laundered to date.

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