{"id":152244,"date":"2025-06-27T22:37:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T22:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-army-does-capture-the-commander-contradicted-his-head-of-operations-following-controversial-statements\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T22:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T22:37:13","slug":"the-army-does-capture-the-commander-contradicted-his-head-of-operations-following-controversial-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-army-does-capture-the-commander-contradicted-his-head-of-operations-following-controversial-statements\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Army does capture&#8221;: The commander contradicted his head of operations following controversial statements."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<div class=\"visual__image image-initial-width\"><picture><source  media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 580px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 350px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 80px)\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"article-figcaption-img\">Third Division of the National Army reported that the successful rescue of the 57 military kidnapped by the Carlos Pati\u00f1o structure &#8211; credit @exercise_div3\/x<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<h2>Conflicting Statements: Army&#8217;s Authority on Arrests<\/h2>\n<p>General <strong>Erick Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, commander of the National Army of Colombia, recently addressed a critical debate regarding the military&#8217;s authority to conduct arrests during operations. His remarks come after General <strong>Royer G\u00f3mez<\/strong>, head of Army Operations, suggested that the military lacks the <strong>Judicial Police powers<\/strong> necessary for executing arrests and that previous releases of captured individuals stem from these limitations.<\/p>\n<p>General Rodr\u00edguez asserted, &quot;<strong>I want to indicate that the National Army does capture,<\/strong>&quot; clearly contradicting G\u00f3mez&#8217;s statements. This issue highlights a significant <strong>struggle<\/strong> within the institution concerning operational protocols and authority in the field.<\/p>\n<h2>The Complex Landscape of Military Operations<\/h2>\n<p>In the recent incidents involving military kidnappings, G\u00f3mez emphasized that the army is not endowed with the authority to arrest individuals, stating, &quot;<strong>We in the National Army do not have Judicial Police powers,<\/strong> therefore we are not empowered to make captures.\u00a0&quot; This statement becomes even more complex as the National Prosecutor&#8217;s Office weighs in, indicating that the captured individuals could not be formally prosecuted due to a lack of evidence linking them to the crimes.<\/p>\n<p>General Rodr\u00edguez, however, expressed the <strong>importance<\/strong> of having substantial evidence to substantiate arrests. He noted that processes are underway for identifying and individualizing those responsible for orchestrating kidnappings, stressing the need for cooperation with civilian prosecutors to procure arrest warrants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visual__image\"><picture><source  media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 580px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 350px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 80px)\"\/><img alt=\"The army commander\" class=\"global-image\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"low\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Army-does-capture-The-commander-contradicted-his-head-of.jpg\" width=\"1200\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"article-figcaption-img\">The commander in charge of the National Army, General Erick Rodr\u00edguez, denied that the institution has no faculty to enhance captures &#8211; credit @exercise_div4\/x<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p>Despite internal disagreements, the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office reported there were insufficient grounds to conclude these individuals were caught &quot;in flagrance,&quot; leading to their immediate release. General Rodr\u00edguez maintained that the military has the necessary competence to act in situations threatening the integrity and rights of army personnel.<\/p>\n<h2>Kidnapping and Its Implications for Colombian State Authority<\/h2>\n<p>In statements to <em>The Spectator<\/em>, Rodr\u00edguez remarked that these kidnappings are tactics employed by <strong>criminal structures such as Carlos Pati\u00f1o<\/strong> to assert territorial dominance over the state and intimidate the civilian populace. He insisted that the rights of the soldiers involved are just as critical as those of the communities impacted by these acts of violence.<\/p>\n<p>He further outlined that the <strong>machinations<\/strong> behind such kidnappings extend beyond mere local dissent. He stressed that these actions are orchestrated by organized groups, which are capable of mobilizing resources effectively. \u201cThey give the order that 400 people meet, but they have to have the logistics for food and supplies,&quot; he explained, underscoring the structured nature of these movements.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visual__image\"><picture><source  media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 580px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 350px)\"\/><source  media=\"(min-width: 80px)\"\/><img alt=\"Troops of the Third Division\" class=\"global-image\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"low\" height=\"815\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1751063832_765_The-Army-does-capture-The-commander-contradicted-his-head-of.jpeg\" width=\"1280\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"article-figcaption-img\">Troops of the Third Division of the National Army, in coordination with units of the National Police, achieved the rescue of 57 military who had been kidnapped &#8211; credit @exercise_div3\/x<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p>He warned that if these activities continue unabated, they risk eroding state authority in areas already vulnerable due to a weak government presence. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in regions engaged in <strong>coca cultivation<\/strong> or <strong>illegal mining<\/strong>, where criminal organizations hold significant sway.<\/p>\n<p>The Army&#8217;s recent rescue operation on June 22 in the Fondas district brought immediate action against a criminal network. They arrested at least 16 suspects associated with the kidnappings; however, these individuals were later released.<\/p>\n<p>Rodr\u00edguez identified <em>Alias Kevin<\/em> as a pivotal leader of the Carlos Pati\u00f1o group in the region, thought to be directly responsible for orchestrating the kidnappings and maintaining control over community dynamics. <\/p>\n<p>In addressing these issues, it is crucial for the government to re-evaluate its strategies to restore order, healing communities, protecting military personnel, and dismantling the organized crime that threatens the foundation of the Colombian state.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/category\/general\/\" rel=\"dofollow\">General News &#8211; 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Third Division of the National Army reported that the successful rescue of the 57 military kidnapped by the Carlos Pati\u00f1o structure &#8211; credit @exercise_div3\/x Conflicting Statements: Army&#8217;s Authority on Arrests General Erick Rodr\u00edguez, commander of the National Army of Colombia, recently addressed a critical debate regarding the military&#8217;s authority to conduct arrests during operations. His [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[416,6946,11658,24066,2108,4336,1016],"class_list":["post-152244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mazagine","tag-army","tag-capture","tag-commander","tag-contradicted","tag-controversial","tag-operations","tag-statements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}