General Commander, Helder Fernan Giraldo, asks all commanders to increase the soldiers’s morale and urges the troops to continue fulfilling the institutional mission.
With the announcement of the bilateral ceasefire by President Gustavo Petro with several illegal armed groups, the General Command of the Military Forces announced the guidelines that men and women on land, sea and air must fully comply with.
In a 14-page text, the Commander of the Military Forces, Major General Helder Fernan Giraldo Bonilla, gave instructions to all officers, NCOs, and soldiers to comply with the bilateral ceasefire.
The document that refers to the commanders of the National Army, the National Navy, the Colombian Air Force, Commanders of the Joint Commands and Joint Task Forces, orders the suspension of all offensive actions in order to avoid inconveniences with the armed groups that accepted the cessation of the fire.
“Commanders at all levels must maintain and verify the operational device and exact location of the troops, in accordance with the daily operational dynamic appreciation,” the document says.
It also establishes “to continue with military, land, river, sea and air operations against drug trafficking, illegal mining, illegal extraction of natural resources, kidnapping, extortion, recruitment of minors, smuggling, trafficking and illegal possession of weapons and other punishable conducts contemplated in the Colombian penal code”.
In the event of any situation or incident with the related groups, they must immediately report to the Operations Chiefs of each of the Forces to make determinations.
The document highlights continuing with military operations throughout the national territory against the threat not included in the Decrees issued by the National Government.
And it specifies “in no case will the right to legitimate self-defense and that of third parties be limited and to act in the event of a crime in flagrante, in accordance with the regulations and rules of engagement and the use of force in force.”
