Federico Gutiérrez's vice-presidential formula rejected motion of censure against defense minister

For the third time since he took office, the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, must defend his portfolio for questioning human rights violations by the security forces before the Congress of the Republic. This time it will be in the House of Representatives where the debate will take place on the operation carried out in the Alto Remanso village, in Puerto Leguizamo, in which 11 people died, several of them apparently civilians, will take place.

The representative and elect Senator Katherine Miranda filed the proposal to hold the debate in order to then promote the vote on a motion of censure. It has the support of more than 36 congressmen from parties such as Green Alliance, Liberal, List of Decency and Commons.

Faced with that call, the vice-presidential candidate Rodrigo Lara Sánchez, Federico Gutiérrez's formula, was against the motion.

Both Lara Sánchez and Gutiérrez have requested investigations into the operation, but also maintained their support for the respect of the human rights of the military forces.

“To talk about Human Rights, the least that should exist is to have moral authority to raise the issue. You have seen that those who most claim to defend them are the ones who have violated them the most. Guerrillas, Paramilitaries and now Russia. I have always respected them,” Gutierrez said through social media.

Sergio Fajardo, candidate of the Centro Esperanza Coalition, assured that the motion of censure will not succeed, like the previous two that were made against Molano, according to him, because of the “jam” that representatives receive. However, he believes that the minister should have resigned by now.

“The Minister of Defense should have resigned a while ago. I think the General Commander of the Army gave some very unfortunate statements because all those who were there were declared combatants,” he told the newspaper La Nación.

At a press conference, Molano assured that he will attend any political control session to which he is cited, “as we should in our role,” and says he is confident that the Military Forces and Police are doing their best to “fight those enemies of Colombia to guarantee the life and tranquility of Colombians in any corner of the country”.

From the UN Verification Mission, the head of that body asked the United Nations Security Council for a thorough investigation into the events that occurred in Putumayo. Subsequently, he spoke out to seek sanctions from those responsible for alleged human rights violations.

In a press conference, Minister Molano assured that he will attend every session of political control to which he is cited, “as we should in our role”, and says he is confident that the Military Forces and the Police are doing their best to “combat those enemies of Colombia to guarantee the life and tranquility of the Colombians in any corner of the country”.

Since he took office and in his 14 months of work, it is the third summons that Diego Molano has received for a debate on the motion of censure in the Colombian Congress for his management in the Ministry of Defense. The first two did not succeed due to lack of votes, so Molano has been able to retain his position.

The first time a motion of censure was requested against him, the minister had to answer for an operation carried out by the security forces against FARC dissidents in March 2021. Several minors died on that occasion, but Molano justified the attack by saying that the guerrillas use “the recruitment of young people to turn them into war machines” and use them as human shields.

The second time it had to do with the overreach of the security forces in the framework of the April 2021 National Strike, which included actions such as arbitrary arrests, sexual abuse and homicides against civilians.

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