Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva announced tight security measures for the inauguration of President-elect Juan Manuel Santos on August 7, with intelligence units and fighter jets on hand to combat potential threats, reports CM&.
The airspace above the inauguration site will be closed during the event and every precaution has been taken to ensure the day runs smoothly.
“We have had a prevention plan in development for several months, which gives us confidence that we are prepared to face any threat of narco-terrorism … we have set up intelligence units and aircraft to monitor the airspace,” said the defense minister.
The Colombian army has issued a ban on the carrying of firearms in Bogota and the department of Cundinamarca from 6PM Monday 2 August, until 6PM Wednesday 11 August.
General Paez Baron stated Sunday that the police would mobilize its entire force of 160,000 men and women to secure the capital city and other strategic areas around the country on inauguration day.
His announcement came hours after Luis Gilberto Ramirez Calle, head of the directorate of the judicial and intelligence police (DIJIN), claimed to have thwarted rebel plans to disrupt Santos’ inauguration on August 7.
Ramirez alleged that the FARC’s leader of armed operations, Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, also known as “Mono Jojoy,” had ordered guerrillas to acquire weapons to attack Bogota during outgoing Colombia President Alvaro Uribe’s handover to Santos. The police reportedly thwarted the transaction by capturing four weapons dealers in the north of Bogota.
