The operation was planned over several months, according to General Luis Emilio Cardozo, and involves the participation of all military forces, the police and the support of the Attorney General’s Office.

The purpose was to recover a population of more than 8,000 inhabitants which was controlled by fronts of the Central General Staff (EMC), a dissidence of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces-People’s Army, specifically the Carlos Patiño structure.

The officer stated that the instruction to recover the tranquility of the citizens of the region was given by President Gustavo Petro himself and that the operation underway is a phase of a large military operation already planned.

“We have already occupied the center of the town, we have our units deployed there and now all that follows is for the State to promote development and progress programs for these communities,” he said.

He added that as long as there is no change in the illegal economies the community will always be at the mercy of the illegal armed groups and asked the inhabitants to contribute to the change of their territories in order to achieve peace.

Early of Saturday morning, the Army deployed 1,400 special military units troops, as well as aircrafts, artillery capabilities and 17 armored vehicles in the area to act against the armed groups.

The Ministry of Defense informed that the offensive concentrates the most advanced military capabilities, including surveillance and control systems, and ratified that it seeks to neutralize the Carlos Patiño structure.

It added that the operations are also directed against the Second Marquetalia, an insurgency with which the government is currently engaged in peace talks.

Meanwhile, the president of the country commented on his social network X that the Army entered El Plateado after more than five years of EMC domination which, he said, turned the region into an international cocaine market.

He later assured that he will go with his cabinet to El Plateado to outline an investment plan for the region.

The head of state asked the Community Action Boards and popular organizations of the Micay region, in the aforementioned southwestern department, to stop taking orders imposed by the EMC.

“The region must be governed by the civilian population itself and not by those who rattle (in reference to drug trafficking) with Mexican and foreign mafias.

Popular organizations will lead the effort to move to licit economies, gain tranquility and well-being. It is time for change,” he wrote.

Ombudsman’s Office reported that at least 17 people were injured in the conflict zone due to the clashes.

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