Unrest continues in Bogota this week

Now moving into the 9th week of protests in Bogota, Colombia with the latest unrest being reported Wednesday night (24th June) in several areas within Bogota resulting in vandalism and injuries to both Civilians, and Police Officers. With the deaths of two youths this week, both allegedly receiving fatal wounds from blunt objects this week during confrontations with the Colombia National Police Anti Disturbance Unit, Bogota has been unable to curb the social unrest with many people still taking to the streets daily. 

With hope of the situation calming after the CUT (Central Union of Workers) announced the previous week that they would be suspending marches whilst they approach from a different angle by working on laws to present to the Colombian Congress in July, several isolated incidents have continued to disrupt the Capital. 

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Violent clashes with Police in Bogota

Local authorities claim that even though most protests are peaceful, a minority continue to incite violence and provoke confrontations with the responding Police forces. These criminal acts appear to be taking place during nighttime hours and the local authorities believe the possibility that Local Organized Crime Groups are responsible and paying youths to erupt chaos in an attempt to destabilize the local areas and gain territory for carrying out illicit activities such as drug trafficking. 

An example of recent violence would be Suba, located in the North West of Bogota, saw both the Public Transport System Terminal (Transmilenio) and Local Government Attention Office for the public (Supercade) to carry out financial & administrative errands, was vandalized with reports of Molotov Cocktails been used. As with many other institutions that have been vandalized during recent months, both establishments are now temporarily closed to the general public. 

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Damage to the SuperCade in Suba, Bogota 24th June 2021

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Aftermath of unrest; Plaza in Suba, Bogota 24th June 2021

Nationwide protests were triggered on the 28th April by a proposed tax reform (which was later retracted by the Government), the last 2 months Colombia wide has seen violent protests which incited a visit from the CIDH (Inter-American Commission on human Rights) known by its acronym in Spanish due to the allegations of excessive force from the Police. The National Strikes, participated by the several organizations, to name a few (not limited to) FECODE (Education Union), CRIC (Indigenous Council) caused a massive blow to the Colombia economy due to thousands of roadblocks across the country disrupting major logistical routes, causing food shortages, demand on fuel and other consumables and a knock-on effect for many businesses and industry sectors. 

Hundreds of commercial establishments across the country have been vandalized and destroyed with Cali being the epicenter of the unrest and violence in which triggered the Colombia President to send thousands of military troops to the region to stem the violence and lift roadblocks. In only 1 night of unrest in Cali, 13 people were reported killed and 26 injured. 

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Table above demonstrates the number of protests and acts of Vandalism across Colombia from the period of 28th April – 9th June 2021

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Table above shows the statistics of injured and fatalities in relation to the protests between the period of 28th April – 9th June 2021. 

ESTIMATED LOSS ECONOMY
$11,8Billion Colombian Pesos(Approx. $3,100 Million USD)
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CAI (Police Attention Center) in Bogota as a result of the unrest

Police Structures Vandalized: Figures reported on 10th June 2021:

  • 113 CAI (Immediate Attention Command Posts) 
  • 536 Police unit vehicles
  • 12 Police stations
  • 4 Police sub-stations 

Security Services Colombia

Black Mountain Solutions understands the importance of keeping staff safe during times of social unrest. Not only can damage to critical assets or harm to staff have a negative impact on operations and business, but failure to protect staff can also have massive legal ramifications to a company if it can be proven they failed to employ duty of care. 

Black Mountain Solutions has an impressive history of supporting multinational organizations by moving their staff to safe areas during periods of social unrest. Previous examples can include the Latin America Spring which triggered protests across Chile, Bolivia, Peru Ecuador and Colombia in 2019 or Nicaragua 2018. 

With every task, Risk Assessing is conducted using up-to-date information on the ground from our network of Local Police, Military and other contacts. Information is also cross checked using Open Source (OPSINT) Information. A Journey Management Plan is implemented taking into consideration alternative routes, medical establishments, and safe havens with a robust Emergency Response Plan in place. 

Secure Transportation & Executive Protection Bogota 

Black Mountain can provide the following:

  • Executive Protection Agents (or Bodyguards) 
  • Security Agents 
  • Vehicle Airport/Hotel Transfers 
  • Armoured (Armored) Vehicles 
  • Bilingual Chofers/Drivers (Security Trained) 
  • 24/7 Movement Tracking 
  • Information Gathering