The information services of the Colombian Army believe that the protests at the facilities of an oil company, in the municipality of San Vicente del Caguan, were financed by dissidents of the extinct FARC guerrilla, the international press reported on Monday.
According to the Europa Press news agency, the protests in this rural town in the Colombian department of Caquetá resulted in two deaths, in addition to 84 kidnapped people who, however, have already been released.
Colombian authorities detail that “two groups” dissidents of the FARC would be behind the protests, which ended this Saturday. For several days, 78 police officers and six workers have been trapped in the place, according to RCN television.
According to information provided by the Army, the two groups are commanded in that region by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, known as ‘Calarcá’, who “reportedly mobilized more than 3,000 people” to maintain and intensify the blockades that were carried out in the area during the last month.
Another of those accused of allegedly encouraging the protests is Wilmer Andrés Lugo Olaya.
Mendoza and Olaya would have contributed resources and material valued at 500 million Colombian pesos (about 100,000 euros) to confront the police.
Last Thursday morning, a group of people invaded the facilities of the oil company Emerald Energy in Los Pozos, in the middle of the Colombian Amazon, as a sign of protest for the breach of some commitments assumed by the company with the surrounding populations, such as the paving of some accesses.
Clashes between peasants and security agents caused two deaths, namely a civilian and a policeman.
The protests, which intensified on Wednesday after a month, left 40 injured. About a hundred people were detained, although they were released on Saturday.
Source: TSF
