BOGOTA ,Colombia (AP) 鈥 Colombia鈥檚 newly appointed defense minister said Tuesday that he will focus on taking back territory lost to rebel groups that have forced thousands to flee their homes this year.
In an address to the nation鈥檚 troops, Defense Minister Pedro S谩nchez said that it was time for Colombia鈥檚 military to 鈥渟trengthen national sovereignty and protect鈥 the nation鈥檚 population.
The retired general hinted that Colombia鈥檚 military, which had been recently asked to refrain from attacking rebel groups by the nation's government, will now take a more offensive role.
鈥淲e cannot continue to allow our police and military to be spat at, attacked and have their throats slit as if they were inanimate objects鈥 he said.
The comments by S谩nchez come just days after 28 police officers and a soldier were kidnapped by a group of civilians in the western Cauca province amid clashes with the FARC-EMC rebel group. The soldiers were released on Sunday.
S谩nchez, a former air force general, was named defense minister in late February as the country
In January, more than 36,000 people were displaced from their homes in the northeastern Catatumbo region, following a wave of attacks by the 春色直播 Liberation Army in which an .
The attacks prompted President Gustavo Petro to with the rebel group that had begun in late 2022.
Petro, who was a member of a rebel group during his youth, has attempted to launch peace negotiations with various armed groups under a strategy known as .
But while the strategy has led to some temporary ceasefires, it has failed to produce lasting results.
Analysts say that groups like the ELN and the FARC-EMC have also taken advantage of ceasefires to recruit more fighters and tighten their grip over remote areas where they extort local businesses and control drug trafficking routes.
鈥淥ur president has been very generous in searching for peace,鈥 S谩nchez said on Tuesday. 鈥淏ut that genuine generosity has been betrayed by those who have continued to exert violence against our citizens.鈥
In 2016, Colombia signed a peace deal with the nation鈥檚 largest rebel group, the FARC, in which more than 13,000 fighters laid down their weapons.
But smaller criminal groups have filled the power vacuum left by the rebels, promoting the drug trade and illegal mining.
Petro has accused the ELN鈥檚 leadership of betraying its revolutionary ideals and of becoming "greedy鈥 drug traffickers.
Colombia鈥檚 President said last week that the government would pay farmers in the Catatumbo region in a bid to boost the region鈥檚 development and starve ELN fighters in the area of cocaine funding.
S谩nchez is the first retired member of the military to serve as defense minister in Colombia in three decades.
His appointment breaks with a tradition of selecting civilians to lead the defense ministry.
The 52-year-old became a local celebrity in 2023, when he led an effort to who had survived a plane crash in a remote patch of the Amazon rainforest. S谩nchez retired from the military in February, shortly after President Petro picked him to lead the defense ministry.
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