Petro launches ‘Mission Cauca’ strategy to guarantee security in the region

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and the Minister of Defense, Iván Velázquez, presented this Friday ‘Cauca Mission‘, a strategy that seeks to transform the region and guarantee security in this turbulent area in the southwest of the country.

The operation will focus on “strengthening military and police operations in the department in order to neutralize organized armed groups and organized criminal groups, as well as their illicit economies fundamentally associated with drug trafficking, illicit mineral extraction and extortion”the Presidency reported in a statement.

This initiative, which is part of the National Development Plan and will be carried out by the State, communities, local authorities and the private sector, aims at territorial transformation including economic, productive, cultural and social aspects to “guarantee full security and comprehensive development in the region.”

The head of state ordered that the Military Forces be in charge of building roads, hospitals, schools, university campuses and aqueducts. drinking water in the areas conflict of the department (province).

He pointed out that the resources for these works must be provided by the General Budget of the Nation, while highlighting that “the military takes better care of money than politicians.”

The director of the National Planning Department (DNP), Alexander López, pointed out during the presentation that the initiative “has a strictly social component, which is linked to guaranteeing the security and rights of the population”, and added that this mission is the articulation for the transformation of the department of Cauca.