According to the official, the body will work to strengthen the protection of presidential candidates and ensure they can carry out their campaign activities without incident throughout the country. “We will ensure that the candidates have the necessary security guarantees,” he stated.
Regarding article 2821, of December 3rd, 2013, the commission is responsible for ensuring the normal development of electoral processes, compliance with electoral guarantees, and safeguarding the rights and duties of political parties and movements before the elections. It is made up of around twenty state entities, law enforcement agencies, and representatives of political associations.
Benedetti’s announcement came after the attack on Senator and presidential candidate for the Democratic Center Party, Miguel Uribe, who is still fighting for his life in a clinic in the capital due to the severity of his gunshot wounds.
Following the attack, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez revealed that security measures will be stepped up, depending on the level of risk, for those who promote their ideas in the sphere of political and democratic life. “Let us demonstrate that we are a mature democracy and unite to move this country and our families forward. Let us not promote hatred or polarization, let us not be contaminated by the dark interests circulating on social media. Unity and respect will make us great and worthy,” he expressed.
In a televised address last Saturday night, President Gustavo Petro strongly condemned the attack on the senator, which occurred in a town in western Bogotá. Petro ordered that the protection of all opposition political leaders be prioritized. “The safety of opponents must be a priority. If failures in the protocols are confirmed, there will be those responsible. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. We don’t want more martyrs,” he stressed, remembering Luis Carlos Galán, Álvaro Gómez, and Carlos Pizarro, three presidential candidates assassinated in attacks perpetrated by hitmen at the end of the last century.
The president also asserted that all the State’s capabilities are being put to the service of the investigation to clarify the facts surrounding the attack. “There should be no resource that is spared, not a single peso, not a second of energy that is not dedicated to finding the mastermind behind the attack,” he emphasized.
jrr/llp/npg/ifs
