Security update
October 6: 400 kilos of explosives stopped on the way to Cali
Here's what happened since the last update, and what each one means.
1400 kilos of explosives stopped on the way to Cali
At about 9:30 AM on October 6, soldiers at a checkpoint on the Pan-American Highway in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, found about 400 kilos of explosives, believed to be C4, in a small cargo vehicle. They captured a 60-year-old man from Cali. The load was headed for Cali. Authorities blame the Jaime Martínez front of Mordisco's FARC dissidents.
What it means for usThis front operates around Santander de Quilichao, where armed men shot 3 people dead in a business on October 4. If you drive the Pan-American Highway between Cali and Popayán, expect checkpoints and vehicle searches.
2"La Morocha" captured in Caquetá
The army, air force and police captured Diana Milena Agudelo Salazar, alias "La Morocha," in Cartagena del Chairá, Caquetá, with 2 of her bodyguards. She's a leader in the Rodrigo Cadete structure of Calarcá's FARC dissidents, and authorities had been after her for about 8 years. She's accused of extortion, kidnapping and murder, and of running the forced recruitment of children. The army commander said: "The most important victory of this military operation is that 5 minors are safe today."
What it meansCalarcá's group killed soldier Brayan Ome Rojas in Caquetá on October 5. With her capture, the group loses the leader who ran its extortion and its forced recruitment of children.
3The UNGRD's López and Pinilla moved to La Picota
On October 6, the prison service (INPEC) moved Olmedo López, former director of the disaster agency (UNGRD), and his deputy Sneyder Pinilla from military detention centers to La Picota prison in Bogotá. The president says he gave the order. Pinilla has been sentenced to 5 years and 8 months. López faces charges that include embezzlement and criminal conspiracy. Pinilla's lawyer says a court order requires him to stay in a military center, and he's asking for the move to be reversed. He says Pinilla is cooperating with the justice system and his life must be protected.
What it meansThese are the 2 men from the water trucks story in Episode 3. They had been held in military units. Now they're in a regular prison.
4Legal help for the ex-soldiers in the Haiti case
The president ordered the Defense and Justice ministers to give legal help to the Colombian ex-soldiers accused in the July 2021 assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse, and money to their families. The 18 were moved from Haiti to a federal court in Florida after Haiti approved it on September 20. In May, a federal jury convicted 4 other men in the same plot. The president said: "I am not the kind of president who abandons his heroes when they face difficulties."
What it meansThe government is backing their defense in a case the US is prosecuting.
5US attack drones sent to Colombia and Ecuador
The New York Times reports that the US sent a small number of MQ-9 Reaper attack drones from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador to fight drug trafficking. Each one can cost up to $50 million. It isn't clear how many have arrived.
What it meansIt's the same kind of drone the US used to kill Iran's General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Now the US is sending them to our region for the drug war.
On social media
The Haiti post is his biggest of the day by far: 359,000 views, 7,200 likes and 925 replies, and the replies are the most hostile we've logged. The most-liked: "They assassinated a President, how are they going to make heroes?" (1,700 likes) Most of the top replies call the ex-soldiers murderers or mercenaries. The most-liked support: "Thank you, President, for not forgetting our heroes. Everything indicates that the Colombian military personnel accused of the assassination of the President of Haiti were deceived and today are the scapegoats." (103 likes) The prison transfer post was the opposite: 79,000 views, 4,600 likes, and the replies are support. "Excellent management! May the privileges end and those who failed the country answer to justice." (40 likes) The new theme there: people want it to reach higher. "Let's see if the head falls, or they sing, or they sing." (56 likes) "La Morocha" drew 236,000 views and 6,200 likes; the explosives, 52,000 views and 3,600 likes, with replies all support. This comes from the top replies on X, not a poll.
I support most of this. But it doesn't go far enough. These groups use any space they're given to reset and grow. They need to be crushed, not contained.