Director of the National Police, General Oscar Naranjo, said 500 officers have been assigned exclusively to provide security and protection for Colombia’s nine presidential candidates. Naranjo explained there will be a strong presence of Police in campaign headquarters as a preventive measure; accompaniment and intelligence tasks will be developed as well.

Minister of the Interior, Fabio Valencia, made recommendations to electoral organizations and political parties so that upcoming elections develop peacefully and efficiently.

Naranjo also announced a 100 million peso reward for anyone who provides information about any plans the guerrilla may have to impersonate soldiers and police officers and sabotage the elections.

Minister of the Interior, Fabio Valencia Cossio, revealed a document created by guard personnel and Inpec employees which contains a series of proposals geared towards improving the difficult situation in the prisons of Colombia. Historically the issue has been traumatic, with problems of overcrowding, human rights violations and other types of humiliation to inmates.

Valencia Cossio felt issues mentioned in the document are worthwhile and valid and hopes they contribute to making positive changes to the country’s penitentiaries.

The myth that drugs and alcohol are linked to crimes like theft and homicide was confirmed in a study by the Ministry of the Interior and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF). The numbers are alarming, “49.1 % of these youngsters committed a crime under the effects of some substance like marijuana (41%) or alcohol (27.4%); 26.8% committed a crime to purchase narcotics”, explained Interior Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio.

The Government and NGO’s insistence on promoting programs that allow children and teenagers to remain in the education system despite their families’ financial difficulties gains even more importance with these results because in many cases the offenders were high school dropouts.

For instance 90 per cent of the men and 10 per cent of the women haven’t finished high school; they belong to stratas 1,2 and 3. It came as no surprise either that a good percentage of these youngsters come from disfunctional homes where the common factor is unemployment, domestic violence, abandonement or death of one of the parents.

The National Government responded before the Senate to explain the extent of its agreement with the United States for technical cooperation in defense and security.

Ministers of Justice and the Interior, Foreign Relations and Defense, Fabio Valencia Cossio, Jaime Bermudez Merizalde and Gen. Fredy Padilla De Leon respectively, explained that U.S. troops are not on a “war mission”, hence the transit of troops on Colombian territory is not implied.

An Ecuadorean judge ordered the arrest of Colombia’s former Minister of Defense, Juan Manuel Santos, a decision considered daring and ridiculous by analysts and government officials. According to experts, Ecuador is “overlooking it’s responsibility” and conveniently forgetting that it was harboring Farc camps on its territory and instead is focusing exclusively on the military attack against the ‘Reyes’ camp.   

In a written statement sent from London, Santos said the order is “one more aggression added to the many certain Ecuadorean authorities have been committing, not against Juan Manuel Santos, but against Colombia”.

Experts also say the order stands in the way of any possible diplomatic reconciliation between the two countries. It’s unclear whether the judge in the province of Sucumbios has universal jurisdiction, otherwise this is simply a “political scandal”.

The judicial order, in this case, depends on any agreements that may exist between the Ecuadorean Government and Interpol. Many feel this is simply a political move and is void of any judicial content, “we don’t see how it could be affirmed that the Colombian Minister committed a crime in Ecuador”.

Attorney General of Colombia, Mario Iguarán, also voiced his opinion and said these decisions jeopardize “good relations between countries”; President Alvaro Uribe and Minister of Justice and the Interior, Fabio Valencia Cossio, also rejected the judge’s ruling and reiterated their support of Minister Santos.

Valencia Cossio said the judge is arbitrarily overstepping the boundaries of his duties. “This shouldn’t be considered illegal when it is meant to fight and attack terrorism”, he said back in March of 2008 in reference to the attack on Reyes’ camp.

The Government established a legislative act that would allow the indefinite reelection of mayors and governors. Minister of the Interior, Fabio Valencia Cossio, said the project’s goal is to give long term stability to the policies and administration of municipal and departmental leaders.

Colombia cannot adopt a permissive attitude towards internal consumption of drugs because it would encourage their offer.

Minister of the Interior, Fabio Valencia Cossio, pointed this out after explaining how Colombia has sustained “coherence in its policies in the fight against drugs, terrorism and threats to public health”; statements were made to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Switzerland where he announced that “the Government will suggest the elimination of the personal dosage out of respect for constitutional principles”.

Retired Gen Marco Antonio Pedreros, former commander of Medellin’s police, confirmed that former director of the DA’s office in Antioquia, Guillermo Leon Valencia, was the person who told him that John Freddy Manco Torres, aka “El Indio”, was not part of the criminal gang led by Daniel Rendón Herrera, aka “don Mario”, but of a different organization.

Pedreros said he felt verification of the information was necessary at the time and cross-referenced it with other officials; he explained that Valencia’s source was Felipe Sierra, currently in custody for alleged ties to “don mario’s” organization.

The state of internal commotion declared by the government in October of 2008 as a way to handle the judicial strike, was deemed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

This would imply that decrees issued during the strike which allowed for the appointment of judges and judicial administrative staff are now baseless. The employees’ permanence will now fall under the authority of the judicial branch.

Minister of the Interior, Fabio Valencia Cossio, said he respects the Court’s decision but explained the measures were taken at the request of the Inspector General and Attorney General’s Offices.

The 7.000 million peso investment was misused because, due to causes soon to be investigated, cells were built without the measurements and standard conditions dictated by international human rights guidelines.

There are 450 cells in the San Isidro which should have been used to house 900 inmates two years ago, act not possible because they did not have toilets inside and the measurements failed to meet international standards.