Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos told onlookers in Buenaventura that 136 members of dangerous criminal gangs had been captured by security forces over the last month and a half, contributing to a recent drop in violence, during a speech Friday.
President Santos also told the crowd in Colombia’s largest pacific port that the city had not seen a homicide for the last 19 days. Additionally Santos said that 32 of the last 48 days had passed without a murder in Buenaventura.
Santos also took the opportunity to tell Buenaventurans of $100 million worth of investment in social programs for the city. This government has “decided to change the situation in Buenaventura and we are doing it with actions, not words,” said the Colombian head of state.
The president added the importance of the increased investment and national security presence was not necessarily to “look for those responsible but solutions” to the problems facing the city and its inhabitants.
Also announced were 24 permanent positions in the Prosecutor General’s Office and its technical investigation team that will help with victim restitution in the city.
The captured gang remembers are allegedly either part of “Los Urabeños” or “La Empresa,” the two criminal organizations that funnel drugs into the city and up the Pacific coast towards Central America and have terrorized the city over the last few years. Of the captured gang members 73 were said to be from the ranks of Los Urabeños and 63 from La Empresa.
Los Urabeños and La Empresa are two criminal gangs that formed from the remnants of the paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia following its demobilization in 2006. La Empresa is an offshoot of another of these gangs, Los Rostrojos. Competition between these two gangs for trafficking corridors into and out of this key Colombian port have caused a spike in city violence since 2011. Last year and the first months of 2014 were particularly brutal, including dozens of cases of torture and dismemberment.
MORE: Government still lacking solution for Buenaventura humanitarian crisis
The horrific violence seen in Buenaventura has caused intense international pressure from the United Nations and human rights organizations on the Colombian government to halt the murders, forced displacement and extortion plaguing the city.
Last month Santos ceded to international pressure and ordered Minister of Defense Carlos Pinzon to use national security forces to stem the violence.
Sources:
- Presidente destacó la captura de 136 integrantes de bandas criminales en Buenaventura (President of the Republic)
- En los problemas de Buenaventura no estamos buscando responsables sino soluciones: Presidente Santos (President of the Republic)
- El Gobierno está decidido a cambiar la situación que vive Buenaventura: Presidente Santos (President of the Republic)