Colombian President orders sending the army to Santa Marta

This city, of almost 570,000 inhabitants, lived today in fear, after the offensive that killed hours before thirteen members, including one of the leaders of Sierra Nevada’s Conquering Self-Defences (ACSN), an armed group of paramilitary origin that lives off the control of drug trafficking routes and extortion.

Several areas of Santa Marta, one of the great Colombian cities, have awakened deserted today due to rumors about trade restrictions and mobility imposed by this armed group that terrorizes the region.

Videos circulated on social media, showing armed men riding their bikes through the streets of the city and shooting at open trades, as well as burning trucks blocking some roads.

“ These criminals threaten to set fire to much of the Caribbean region, beginning with Santa Marta, where they threatened traders, inhabitants and transporters,” said the president of Espriella in a video.

“I ordered (...) that Santa Marta be militarized”, he announced, adding: “Whoever does not submit will be eliminated.”.

Police today reinforced their presence in the commercial areas of the city with units against extortion and special forces, a spokesperson from the institution told the French news agency AFP.

And military forces were also deployed to be along the road linking Santa Marta to the department of La Guajira, bordering Venezuela, where the ACSN also operate.

Abelardo de la Espriella, a former millionaire lawyer supported by the Trump administration, has been in the position of President since August. Defender of a hard right, he promised to crush the country's armed groups involved in cocaine trafficking, whose first world producer is Colombia.