“Without security and without justice there is no investment”: Attorney General

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, participated in the Assembly of the Inter-American Development Bank (Asamblea del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)) which was held in Barranquilla (Atlántico).

In his speech, he referred to new findings that prove the alleged participation of the ELN in the electoral process in Ecuador.

The challenges posed by the pandemic, which have allowed the entity’s technological growth, greater institutional presence, and the development of new investigative practices, were some of the topics that the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, presented during his participation in the Assembly that was held in Barranquilla (Atlántico).

The Attorney General emphasized the work that his executive staff has carried out when visiting the territories to learn about the different criminal phenomena and strategically intervene.

“Without security and without justice there is no chance of investment in a country, neither a chance to guarantee free enterprise and, of course, any evocation of equality is unrealistic because if there is no way to guarantee people’s rights in the national territory, it is very difficult to achieve fundamental rights and the Rule of Law”, he assured.

The Attorney General Barbosa Delgado reiterated the institution´s growth. He pointed out that, during this first year in office, there was a virtual presence in 689,000 hearings. “We don’t stop for a second. We came to the conclusion that we were facing a great challenge. One month and 10 days after arriving at the Prosecutor’s Office, the pandemic began. It is necessary to remember one thing, criminals did not stop during pandemic. Criminals continued committing crimes”, he emphasized.

In his speech, the Attorney General referred to three main objectives set to fight crime and the different transformations of criminals. First, public safety; second, the fight against organized crime; and third, investigations against corruption.

Likewise, he insisted on the reality that regions are facing and that it justifies the active intervention of the Prosecutor’s Office and its coordinated work and itinerancy.

“This is not a game; it is not a topic of discussion whether there is peace or war in Colombia. The only thing that I have confirmed as Attorney General in Colombia is that we live a very complex circumstance in the national territory, and I do not see elements of peace in a number of territories, what I see are elements of conflict and war” he stated.

Considering this situation, it has been fundamental to join efforts with other institutions. This synergy also involves authorities and agencies of other countries, and it is constant with prosecutors and public ministries in the hemisphere. Thus, there is a flow of relevant information, as is the case of Ecuador.

“Today, the Deputy Attorney General is in Quito (Ecuador) submitting new evidence on the participation of the ELN in that electoral process, within the framework of the judicial cooperation that we have with that country”.

Fighting crime in a joint manner has weakened the main fuel of all their illegal activities: illegal money. The Attorney General referred to the strategy known as Argenta which seeks to take away resources of those who are behind crimes.

“We are taking away their resources. More than 12 trillion last year, and we are going to impact corruption, criminal organizations, and public safety not only with criminal proceedings, but we are going to take resources away from those people, from their relatives and friends. These criminals are motivated by money. We are going to pursue them also for their resources”.

Finally, the prosecutor encouraged the mayors to join forces in order to bring justice to the regions. An essential factor to provide urban security.

“It is not acceptable that there are mayors in this country who omit their role in security issues, and who avoid their task and responsibility and that believe that the objective is to speculate about what is happening within their regions, because the only institution that can give certainty of what is happening in this country from the point of view of the criminal investigation, is the Office of the Attorney General through the criminal intelligence that is derived from the files that we know and detect in the framework of our territorial management”, he concluded.

At the end of the meeting, the Attorney General Barbosa Delgado emphasized that the Prosecutor’s Office is part of the institutions that want a better country and an honest country in which it can be understood that realities are difficult and that challenges must be faced clearly.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.