Gustavo Petro accuses the ELN of the kidnapping of an army non-commissioned officer: “they are sabotaging any possibility of peace”

On the afternoon of Sunday February 19, President Gustavo Petro sent a stern message to ELN after the guerrillas’ Eastern War Front claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Vice First Sergeant Libey Danilo Bravo, Special Energy Battalion and No. 1 Highway of the national army.

Via Twitter, he not only rejected keeping the officer in uniform, but also pointed out that this type of event “sabotages any possibility of peace”. In passing, he assured that these acts of violence against the police and the community in general have no place in society.

It should be mentioned that in its statement, the guerrilla structure ratified that on Tuesday, February 14, the Eastern War Front “detained” First Assistant Sergeant Bravo in the urban area of ​​the municipality of Arauquita. They also indicated that the soldier “is receiving appropriate treatment, within the framework of human rights and in accordance with the realities of the war that is currently taking place in the department of Arauca”.

The ELN also indicated in its press release that it will hand over proof of survival to the family in the coming days and that it has even held the police force responsible for what could happen to Sergeant Bravo.

This kidnapping is in addition to the attack perpetrated against the troops of the Special Energy and Road Battalion No. 1 who carried out control operations at the military base of El Jorobado, located in the rural area of ​​Arauquita. During this armed action, a man in uniform was injured.

In the same way, this is not President Petro’s first questioning of the various violent actions of this guerrilla. In January this year, she issued a strong ultimatum due to the “crisis” manifested by the ELN delegation regarding the ceasefire measure decreed by the national government without consulting them, according to them.

Precisely, it was Petro himself who, in this context, issued an ultimatum to the ELN Thursday, January 12. Through his Twitter account, he warns that this guerrilla has two paths: “Or the path of the father Camilo Torres Restrepo or the way of Pablo Escobar”.

The statement of the Head of State was made citing a video in which the President of the Senate, Roy Barrerasreferred to the ELN’s opportunity to create a peace accord in the first progressive leftist government in Colombia’s history.

In this dialogue held with CM&, recalled that this guerrilla “began its insurrection 60 years ago (sic), it did so with ideas that involved social demands. This is the first time in 60 years that they have been in a Democratic Left Progressive government” and warned that this relevance cannot be wasted.

“Or they go down in history as the builders of this total peace accept the generous hand of President Petro’s government, otherwise they will go down in history as a guerrilla that degenerated into drug trafficking and only ended up causing suffering,” urged the Senate Speaker.

To this extent, the member of the Historical pact He judged that this guerrilla also had the opportunity to “build history” during the next round of talks which will take place in Mexico from January and for this reason he hopes that this delegation will have the will to sign a ceasefire. -fire, as happened at the end of the second term of Juan Manuel Santos.

It should be mentioned that Bravo’s kidnapping and bombing attack add to the one recorded earlier this month in Cali, when a professional soldier was murdered for stealing his rifle. According to the institution, the crime was committed against Cristian Jose Castillo Guevara in the Pichincha battalion of this city.