The former president of Colombia and leader of the Liberal Party César Gaviria denounced that the National Protection Unit (UNP) tried to reduce and change his protection scheme, so he had to cancel his political agenda fearing for his safety.
According to Semana magazine, without explanation, the UNP made modifications to the team of bodyguards that have accompanied the former president for many years. Gaviria found out about the changes before a trip to Barranquilla to attend to his political community’s commitments with the Atlantic Governor candidate Eduardo Verano de la Rosa.
The former president canceled all his scheduled public appearances and met with the other leaders of the Liberal Party to consider what actions to take in the development of liberalism’s political campaigns in the month before the regional elections on October 29.
Likewise, the aforementioned media indicated that the former head of state showed concern about the movements in his bodyguard team without prior notice due to the history of political violence in the country just after changes in bodyguards, as happened with Luis Carlos Galán. , something that he himself maintained before the Supreme Court of Justice.
“The change of bodyguard was decisive in the murder of Galán, the Supreme Court must take it into account. In the conviction of Maza Márquez, the conspiracy materialized in changing the bodyguard to assassinate Galán,” César Gaviria said at the time before the Court.
What is the security scheme of a former president like?
Decree 1069 of 2018 “by which provisions on protection and security are issued for the former presidents and former vice presidents of the Republic of Colombia”, issued during the mandate of Juan Manuel Santos, details that those protected will be assigned a junior or superior officer of the Military Forces or the Police, who will be chosen by a shortlist assigned by the Minister of Defense.
The presidential document establishes that: “To guarantee the personal integrity of the former presidents and former vice presidents and their spouse, they will have a lifelong protection scheme, made up of the National Police and the National Protection Unit, which will be determined accordingly. according to the results of the risk level study prepared by the National Police.”
The children of former leaders also have the right to the assignment of bodyguards and the amount is determined depending on the risk level of the main protected person, which is studied annually by the Police.
The security scheme will be permanent at the residence and workplace of those protected and when necessary, the bodyguards may be from other Armed Forces, other than the Police.
“When circumstances warrant it, after coordination between the Chief of Security and the Military and Police Forces, additional security and protection measures may be temporarily included or adopted within the country for former presidents,” the document adds.
Pastrana also assured that the scheme was reduced
Like César Gaviria, former president Andrés Pastrana indicated on April 10 of this year that his security scheme had been reduced.
“The dirty game of threats from Petro and his government, by cutting my security and the guarantees of free mobilization as an opponent of the regime, marks a low point in Colombian politics,” said the former head of state.
According to what Pastrana told Semana magazine, when he intended to tour various areas of the country ahead of the regional elections, they told him that he could not leave Bogotá because his security scheme had been reduced; However, the National Protection Unit denied his claims.
“For reasons of legal confidentiality, we cannot give details of the former official’s robust scheme, but we can confirm that neither vehicles nor protection personnel nor elements that make up his measures have been reduced,” the entity said. Regarding César Gaviria’s protection scheme, the UNP has not commented. With Infobae
