The Attorney General’s Office registered under number 0355 the criminal report with which it is being investigated whether behind the 21 forest fires causing millions in losses in five departments of the country -especially in Tolima-, there are criminal hands.
The investigation, carried out by the 23rd regional section of the Attorney General’s Office, was opened ex officio after the governor of that department, Adriana Magali Matiz, sent a first SOS asking for help to extinguish the fires in her region and later said there were serious indications that criminal hands were behind the conflagrations.
The crossing of maps
That same day, one of the governor’s advisors revealed to EL TIEMPO a couple of videos showing black smoke columns coming out of the fire spots and an expert’s explanation pointing out that it was clear they had been started by some kind of fuel: “Natural burns emit white smoke.”
Later, videos began to be collected in which men on motorcycles were seen around the controlled areas, setting them on fire again.
At that moment, the governor’s call was joined by that of the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Lara; and the President of the Republic himself, Abelardo De La Espriella, who agreed in stating that it had to be investigated whether illegal armed groups were behind the flames that were already causing millions in losses.
Crossing maps
“The enemies of the Republic had sworn to set the country on fire and they are doing it. I have ordered the immediate formation of a special elite group with intelligence, investigation, and operational capabilities to identify, pursue, and capture each of those responsible for causing the fires,” said the president after leading the Unified Command Post (PMU) in Tolima last Thursday and declaring a state of calamity in the department where 16 fires are active in 12 municipalities, which have already destroyed more than 50,000 hectares.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO had access to the information that led the president to make these statements, which include satellite images, intelligence agency maps, and confirmation that the fire spots clearly coincide with attacks by dissident groups.
Drones and infiltrators
Indeed, Governor Matiz told the President that the fires started on August 1, which coincided with the murder of two police officers in the south of the department and the preamble to the change of government.
Six days later, on Friday, August 7 (the day of the inauguration), two grenade attacks were carried out at the Planadas base and in the Casa Verde hamlet in Ataco. And 48 hours later, there was a drone attack at the Police station in the municipality of Río Blanco. By that time, 17 fires were already burning. And the issue escalated to threats and infiltrators.
The governor noted in the logbook that then came the issue of infiltrators and even threats of guerrilla takeovers.
“On Monday, August 10, we had intimidating actions in San Luis. While we were putting out the fire, a rumor spread that the FARC dissidents were going to take over the municipality of Ataco, which led to a curfew being declared. And the next day, the version was that the takeover would be in Chaparral and Río Blanco,” explained the governor.
The Gerónimo Galeano’
And the pressure from armed groups continued to grow just like the flames.
On August 21, there was a new drone attack in the La Herrera corregimiento in Río Blanco and, simultaneously, there was harassment of an Army platoon. Then came the vehicle burnings on the Ibagué-Planadas road.
And at the beginning of the week, there was another drone attack that left several soldiers injured. But the most worrying case occurred on August 24 when the mayor of Planadas, Juan Camilo Hueje, denounced that members of the ‘Gerónimo Galeano’ front took the weapon from the police officer who was with the mayor after warning him that he had already been summoned several times without attending.
The arrests
The alert about the presence of criminal hands coincided with the announcement of the first arrests for forest fires.
(Check here all the articles from the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)
The first two were identified as Julio César Morales Herrera and Leónidas Merjado Hurtado, arrested in the rural area of Dolores (Tolima) on August 25, on a property in the La Guacamaya hamlet where they were stoking the fire amid unauthorized burns.
Both had already been summoned on July 24 for similar conduct. Therefore, this time they were held in a detention center while the investigation progresses.
But the concern now is that members of the National Army’s Forestry Brigade (BIADE) have begun to be threatened, with drones sent to kill them, in areas such as Cerro Las Mercedes, between Suárez and Carmen de Apicalá.
This alert coincides with the complaints of the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Lara, who stated that criminals might be mixing among the firefighters to sabotage operations, causing more fires and threatening rescuers.
An alibi?
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO contacted Alfredo Bocanegra, Secretary of Security of Tolima, who, although he said there is reserved information, revealed that there is evidence of criminal hands: “Containers smelling of fuel have been found. There has even been talk of a ‘lapa,’ which is an element containing kerosene that is thrown and ignited on contact.”
In fact, Bocanegra said the fires could be a strategy by armed groups to divert the attention and pressure of the Public Force to other areas: “We were on the offensive in the south against armed groups and it is possible that this was part of a plan to reduce the pressure we had on the south and shift it to another region or focus it on another phenomenon, like the fires.”
He also said it could be political actors: “Although we do not have the evidence and it is under investigation, it could be an attempt to create a sense of government incapacity.”
(Check here all the articles from the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)
According to the most recent report from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), in addition to Tolima and Huila, there are 2 active fires in Valle del Cauca that have consumed 595 hectares; 3 in Cundinamarca, where 1,589 hectares have been affected; 4 in Nariño, where 1,485 hectares have burned and one more in Caldas.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
Follow us now on Facebook