The Ministry of Defence is constantly arousing controversy over the most recent operations of the security forces, the results of which are questioned by certain sectors of civil society. On this occasion, the reproach came for a capture that Minister Diego Molano announced through his social networks and would also present irregularities.
This is the governor of the nasa council of La Esperanza, Reinaldo Quebrada Quilcué. In a video, the Minister of Defense referred to him as alias El Indio or El Rey. Molano's version is that the capture was recorded in the urban area of the municipality of San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), together with “la Sijin, la Dipol, la Dicar, in collaboration with the Attorney General's Office”.
Quebrada Quilcué will be syndicated for the crimes of extortive kidnapping, promotion and financing of deforestation, manufacturing, trafficking and carrying firearms, and financing the invasion of special areas of ecological and strategic importance.
The security forces and the prosecutor indicate that Quebrada Quilcué “participated in the kidnapping of a member of the National Army during the development of operational activities in the El Triunfo village, in the municipality of San Vicente del Caguán, during this phase of the Artemis campaign”.
That soldier is Juan Sebastián Bonilla Melo, who spent four days being held in an assault against the soldiers who were carrying out that operation to stop the invasion of land in the Serranía del Chiribiquete National Natural Park, located between the departments of Guaviare and Caquetá. He was finally released on March 11.
In addition, according to Diego Molano, “this person would be the determinant of deforestation in the Chiribiquete National Park, who sold land within the park sponsoring colonization and environmental damage. In addition to this, he sponsored the violent protest against the security forces, in order to prevent these operations against deforestation of the Artemis campaign.”
The National Coordination of Indigenous Peoples (Conpi) has a different version of the facts and made it known in a statement to the public. According to the indigenous authorities, Operation Artemis has caused systematic violence against their peoples, so they requested a meeting on Tuesday, April 5 with the Vice-Minister for Participation and Equal Rights of Colombia, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, Pastor Carlos Alberto Baena.
The meeting would be attended by all the leaders of the region, so that Reinaldo Quebrada Quilcué also arrived in the town of San Vicente del Caguán. At that time he was approached by the security forces and captured.
The Conpi statement suggests that this is the second time in six months that the governor of the council has been arbitrarily captured. The first occasion was on September 18, 2021, during another phase of the Artemis operation. At that time, Quebrada was transferred to San José del Guaviare to prosecute him.
The Conpi demands that the President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez, “respect and guarantee the fundamental territorial rights of the indigenous peoples of San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), south of Meta and Guaviare”. In addition, they hold the national Government responsible for “any act that jeopardizes the physical and cultural integrity, collectively or individually, of our traditional authorities”.
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