Colombia: Mob tries to burn the Palace of Justice and headquarters with vaccines in the city of Facatativá

This morning, a mob tried to set fire to the Palace of Justice and a Mayor’s Office where vaccines against covid-19 had been stored in the city of Facatativá, in the department of Cundinamarca, center of Colombia.

“It was intended to vandalize the Palace of Justice and a municipal mayor’s office where, among other things, vaccines against covid-19 are stored for the population of Facatativá”, informed the governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García Bustos.

In videos published on social networks, flames caused by incendiary bombs and smoke that comes from the upper floors are seen on the facades of the building, but the fire did not cause structural damage as it did with the Palace of Justice in the city of Tuluá (southwest) that a mob burned on May 25.

The governor explained that the vandals did not let the firefighters pass, so they had to send the Army to act.

“We insist, the way of dialogue will always find an interlocutor in us. Yesterday there was no Esmad (Riot Squad) in the city, yesterday there was no confrontation; were made unilateral those of wanting to vandalize public buildings.” Garcia said.

Along with Cali, the epicenter of the protests and where there were 14 dead and 98 wounded -54 by gunshots-, according to the UN, in the clashes that took place on Friday in the context of citizen protests, the cities of Madrid and Facatativá, both in Cundinamarca, are also militarized since this Saturday.

The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, ordered “the largest deployment” of “military assistance” on Friday night, when it was a month of protests that have left 60 dead according to social organizations and 43 according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

On that day, there were strong clashes between the security forces and the protesters in various parts of the country, and even scenes of armed civilians firing at the protesters, due to the inaction of the Police.

In Madrid and Facatativá, two municipalities near Bogotá, there were also riots on Friday, including attacks by the Police against journalists in the first city, and the attempt to burn down police stations in the second.

“Situations like those that occurred this morning in Facatativá have no justification and require the immediate intervention of the public force”, alleged the governor of Cundinamarca in relation to the attacks this morning.

The protests in Colombia began on April 28 against an attempt at tax reform, already withdrawn, and have continued since then with a multitude of complaints, focused on police violence and poverty, especially in the city of Cali, with discontinuous attendance and concentrated above all in the poorest neighborhoods of the cities.