Iván Duque rejects internal unrest and announces militarization of the entire Valle del Cauca

This Friday, May 28, President Iván Duque arrived in the city of Cali and after a security council with the local administration and the armed forcesannounced the deployment of the army in support of the national police force throughout the department from that very night. The head of state has once again ruled out decreeing the internal unrest that his party, the Centro Democrático, has been demanding since the start of the national strike a month ago.

“We must defend with the tools that the Constitution and the law give us. Today in the city of Cali we saw acts of shooting of armed people, a cruel and painful testimony of the shooting of a citizen on a group of people and people attacking another citizen, we saw expressions of vandalism and we have also seen acts against the public. infrastructure, ”Duque explained.

He therefore announced important measures: “From this evening, the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police begins in the town of Cali and in the department of Valle.”

What is the state of inner turmoil?

Chapter 6 of the Political Constitution of Colombia is where the articles referring to the state of internal unrest can be found. There, the first thing that is exposed is that to declare it requires the signature of the Head of State and all the ministers of his cabinet. Once the text with each signature comes out, the national government will have the powers strictly necessary to repel aggression, defend sovereignty, meet the demands of war and seek the restoration of normalcy. It is a figure created to respond to specific situations such as:

– Foreign war (state of foreign war).

– Serious public order disturbances which imminently threaten institutional stability and the security of citizens, and which cannot be avoided by resorting to the ordinary powers of the police authorities (state of internal unrest).

– Serious and imminent disturbances of the economic, social and ecological order of the country, or events constituting a serious public calamity (state of emergency).

What can the president do in the face of shock?

First, it is clear that a state of shock cannot last more than 90 days, if it lasts longer than this time, it requires the prior and favorable opinion of the Senate of the Republic. According to article 213 of the Political Constitution, once the declaration is made, the government will have extraordinary powers to apply legislative decrees suspending laws incompatible with the state of shock. The president could, according to a summary of Time, Do the following:

– Restrict the mobility of citizens.

– Temporarily use public and private assets.

– Establish, through legislative decrees, restrictions on radio and television.

– Restrict demonstrations likely to disturb public order.

– Order, with a verbal or written court order, the interception of communications.

– Order, with a court order and in some cases without it, the preventive arrest of persons known to have committed or will commit a crime.

– Limit or ration the use of services or the consumption of basic necessities.

– Suspend mayors or governors when they contribute to disturbing public order.

– Impose fiscal or parafiscal contributions.

– Edit the budget.

– Provide, in certain cases without prior judicial authorization, for home inspections or searches to seek legal evidence or prevent crimes.

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