Reactions continue following the controversial statements of General Eduardo Zapateiro to the statements made by the Army Commander against the presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro, thus breaking into the neutrality that the country's Armed Forces must maintain, and even more so during election times.
Recently, the one who spoke in the face of the army commander's harsh criticism of the candidate for the presidency for the Historical Pact was, precisely, an ex-mandaryman, and he also did so harshly that that reaction did not go unnoticed, especially in sectors that have opposed him.
On Sunday, Ernesto Samper posted a message on his Twitter account to the controversy directed by Zapateiro, indicating that he “violated, in an obscene way”, the bias of the Military and Police Forces on political issues.
“The non-deliberative and civilistic condition of the security forces had been until today, when General Zapateiro violated it in an obscene way, one of the pillars that made our democratic institutions respectable to the world,” wrote the president of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. As expected, he received responses from many political sectors, but there was one that attracted attention and that was that of Luis Colmenares, father of Luis Andrés.
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Quoting the triune of former President Samper, Colmenares defended General Zapateiro and, incidentally, went on trial against the former secretary general of UNASUR, calling him even “cynical”. He also indirectly reminded him of the '8000 Process' in which his presidency was committed.
“And what is this cynic claiming? He has no right to say anything since he sold his election to drug trafficking. If I were ashamed no one knew it existed!” said the candidate for the Senate for Radical Change who was' burned 'in the last legislative elections.
This Monday, April 25, the Attorney General's Office will open an investigation to Zapateiro
For alleged participation in politics, the commander of the National Army will be investigated by the entity. This Monday you will be sent a notification specifying the investigative work after your discussion with candidate Gustavo Petro. This is not the only time that the military high command is involved in legal action.
It is worth remembering that Zapateiro Altamiranda had been denounced to the prosecutor's office since Friday, April 22. The senator and militant of the Historical Pact, Roy Barreras, was the one who sent a formal complaint to the watchdog in which, in addition to investigating the uniformed man, he asked to be suspended from office.
“I have lodged disciplinary complaint against General Zapateiro for a very serious misconduct with the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation. I call for their immediate suspension because of their flagrant political belligerence. It is a risk for democracy that it interferes with the elections by carrying the arms of the Republic,” said the former negotiator of the 2016 Peace Agreement.
This episode began on the night of April 19, when a unit of the Army's Fourth Brigade was attacked by members of the Gulf Clan. In the event, seven soldiers were killed and four were said to have disappeared. Faced with this fact, Petro posted on his Twitter account that “While soldiers are being killed by the Gulf Clan, some of the generals are on the Clan's payroll. The top is corrupted when it is the politicians of drug trafficking who end up promoting the generals”, thus generating the general's response.
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