Residents of the municipality of Pelaya, Cesar, took to the streets to march against the kidnapping. They ask for respect for freedom and people’s lives, given the most recent kidnappings of the merchant Maira Beltrán Quintero, 43, and the rancher and farmer Jesús Quintero, better known as ‘Churo Ballena’.
Dressed in white and carrying balloons of the same color, a crowd walked through the main streets of the municipality, culminating in the central square, where Mayor Alexis Quintero, leaders and unions addressed the town to join with a single voice and ask for the release of these two people, whose plagiarisms occurred in less than 24 hours. The protesters also demanded the presence of the authorities to guarantee the security of the area, since fear and uncertainty keep the population overwhelmed.
The authorities offered a reward of up to $50 million pesos for information about the kidnapping of these citizens.
According to the authorities, there is a presence in the area of dissidents from the FARC, Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AGC and ELN.
Alexis Quintero, mayor of the municipality of Pelaya, stated that “until April, public order was controlled in the municipality, but since May to date there have been five homicides and these two kidnappings, in addition to robberies and extortion of ranchers and merchants,” said the mayor.
Given this situation, security councils have been held and the national authorities have been requested to increase the force. This situation is unfortunate, there is a lot of fear among the community and we must prevent the scourge of kidnapping from continuing to increase. “The call is to the departmental and national governments to manage their efforts to guarantee peace and tranquility to the population,” he assured.
With the reduction of hours for the operation of public establishments and the restriction on male grillers in some sectors of the municipality, the authorities began operations to counteract the series of kidnappings that have occurred in the municipality of Pelaya, Cesar, in less than 24 hours.
THEY TAKE ‘SHOCK’ MEASURES
On the other hand, the mayor announced a series of restrictive measures that have been applied in the municipality since the weekend to restore public order. In this regard, he reported that the hours for commercial establishments were reduced and the areas with restriction of male grillers were increased, establishing a schedule to circulate until 7:00 at night, as part of ‘shock’ measures agreed with the force. public.
He reiterated that so far, no illegal group has claimed responsibility for the two kidnappings. Authorities reinforce security measures to locate him.
