Reuters
Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez speaks with a police officer who, along with other police officers, were detained by rural and indigenous communities, according to authorities, who are demanding that the oil company Emerald Energy build roads in San Vicente del Caguan, Colombia March 3, 2023. Colombian Ministry of Defense/Handout via REUTERS
BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday.
On Thursday, a police officer and a civilian were killed during the violent protest in Caqueta province. Rural and indigenous protesters also took 79 police officers and nine Emerald employees hostage, blocked access to an oil field, and set a fire to demand the company fix roads in the area, authorities said.
The two deaths were caused by gunfire, Interior Minster Alfonso Prada said earlier on Friday, adding that while the protests were led by rural farmers, armed groups also operate nearby.
Petro confirmed the hostages had been freed Friday, calling on investigators to find those responsible for the deaths.
Emerald Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protests and blockades are common in Colombia near oil and mining projects, with many local residents demanding improved infrastructure or other benefits to the area.
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BOGOTA, March 3 (Reuters) - A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday.
On Thursday, a police officer and a civilian were killed during the violent protest in Caqueta province. Rural and indigenous protesters also took 79 police officers and nine Emerald employees hostage, blocked access to an oil field, and set a fire to demand the company fix roads in the area, authorities said.
The two deaths were caused by gunfire, Interior Minster Alfonso Prada said earlier on Friday, adding that while the protests were led by rural farmers, armed groups also operate nearby.
Petro confirmed the hostages had been freed Friday, calling on investigators to find those responsible for the deaths.
Emerald Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protests and blockades are common in Colombia near oil and mining projects, with many local residents demanding improved infrastructure or other benefits to the area.
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President Gustavo Petro orders defense minister to head to region and condemns kidnappings
Laura Gamba |03.03.2023
BOGOTA, Colombia
Seventy nine police officers have been held by farmers and Indigenous peoples in San Vicente del Caguan, in the Caqueta Department of Colombia, where the Emerald Energy oil company operates.
The group of farmers are protesting the destruction of the roads by the company's tank cars that transport the fuel and have been demanding for several weeks the paving of 42 kilometers of the road that connects San Vicente del Caguan with Las Delicias.
On Thursday morning, the police arrived at the scene after violent protesters set a fire and tried to take over the company's facilities. The confrontations left a policeman and a civilian killed. Nine oilfield workers were also captured alongside the police officers.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Twitter that the Minister of Defense Ivan Velasquez will be in San Vicente del Caguan on Friday.
“The unilateral release of the policemen and the protection of their integrity is paramount for the government,” he said.
Petro called on the attorney general to investigate the killings and the Red Cross to attend to those being held hostage.
Videos show the hostages spending the night on a community room floor. The murder of the policeman by the members of rural and Indigenous communities has prompted a response from the police chief, General Henry Sanabria.
"It is disconcerting the savage manner in which they ended the life of Deputy Superintendent Ricardo Arley Monroy Prieto, when he was protecting people frightened by the onslaught of a pack that favored chaos over dialogue," Sanabria wrote on Twitter.
Audios have been released in which a uniformed man desperately asked an army commander for a helicopter to take out the wounded police officer and help them repel the attack.
"What's going on? Some support. Two hours holding out, my general. Two hours, my general. I have a seriously wounded comrade, my general," pleaded the policeman. "There are no human rights for us, what are we waiting for, for them to finish us all off?”
The Mayor of San Vicente del Caguan, Julian Perdomo, has made urgent appeals to the government to retake control of the area. He said that it is "regrettable that 90% of the company's infrastructure was destroyed and, in addition to being set on fire, it was also looted. With these acts, almost 500 people were left without work".
Protesters in Colombia clash with oil company and take hostages
A civilian and police officer have died in violent demonstrations calling for Emerald Energy to invest in rural communities.
Colombia’s human rights ombudsman meets with police and demonstrators in San Vicente del Caguan, Colombia, on March 2 [Colombian Ombudsman Office/Reuters]
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