Journal of Haiti and the Americas
Army reform in Colombia: “An emergency in a spiral of violence”
Audio 7:30 p.m.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro listens to General Felder Hernan Giraldo Bonilla, the new commander of the military forces, during Bonilla's appointment ceremony, in Bogota, Colombia August 20, 2022. © REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
By: Mikael Ponge
3 mins
After years of violence in Colombia, the army is destined to become "
an army of peace
" according to President Gustavo Petro, who a few days ago took up his official duties as the new command of the army.
A total paradigm shift in a country where soldiers and police have been singled out for their belligerent approach.
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Yesterday, Tuesday August 23, 2022, ten police officers were arrested for the alleged murder of three young men falsely presented as drug traffickers.
These young people had been arrested during a police check, and their bodies taken a few hours later to the hospital with bullet wounds and signs of torture, according to family members and their lawyer.
According to the new commander-in-chief of the police, General Henry Sanabria, just appointed by President Gustavo Petro, the police officers involved are accused of having "
violated all the constitutional and legal parameters, tarnishing the name of the institution
".
For the press, these arrests of police officers are one of the first examples of the changes made within the police forces under the Petro era.
The army must not only prepare for war, but it must also prepare for peace, end up as an army of peace
,” the new left-wing president said a few days ago.
"An emergency" as Colombia is caught "
in a spiral of violence, despite the 2016 peace agreements
", notes our guest Angelica Montes Montoya, doctor of political philosophy, specialist in Latin America.
"
The military must have a new role according to Gustavo Petro
", she explains, which requires "
a work of refoundation of the very principles of organization, of the armed force in order to give the military a role of actor who helps the civilian population rather than considering it as a military enemy
".
But to do this, believes Angelica Montes Montoya, there is a “
need for political education with government authorities and the population, but also for transparency in the process because citizens no longer believe in the different processes of frontal fight against drug traffickers.
», which feed the spiral of violence.
Haiti: 2 days of demonstrations and already 3 dead
They denounce the grip of gangs, kidnappings, skyrocketing prices, unobtainable fuel... and a government with absent subscribers.
Just yesterday, Tuesday, August 23, 2022, hundreds and hundreds of Haitians demonstrated across the country, in Jacmel, Miragoâne, Petit Goâve, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, or in front of the Ministry of Commerce in Port-au- Prince.
Two days of demonstrations, and an already heavy toll: there are now "
three dead and a dozen wounded
", according to the national press.
The population accuses the national police of firing on the demonstrators, who threaten to carry out more violent actions in the days to come if the interim Prime Minister does not meet their demands.
The information site Ayibopost also speaks of a "
national uprising against Ariel Henry
”.
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To read also:
Headlines: three dead and dozens injured in the repression of demonstrations in Haiti
On the front page of the Journal de la 1ère
The meeting of elected officials from overseas with the President of the Republic is being actively prepared on the side of the West Indies.
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Colombia
Haiti
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