Foreign organised crime recruits young people in Santa Cruz, warns Governor Velasco
Governor Juan Pablo Velasco warned of the entry of foreign criminal organisations recruiting young people in Santa Cruz. He also denounced that the department received less than 10 per cent of certain national public investments over 20 years.
Velasco warns of recruitment of young people from Santa Cruz by foreign criminal gangs
The governor of Santa Cruz, Juan Pablo Velasco, sounded the alarm about the penetration of organised crime from other countries in the department. According to El Deber, the official indicated that these organisations are attracting young people from Santa Cruz with short-term benefits, putting their lives at risk.
"Organised crime from other countries is entering Santa Cruz and is recruiting young people in exchange for things, in the short term, that are putting the lives of many young people from Santa Cruz at risk. We must prevent this," declared Velasco on the programme ¡Qué Semana!, broadcast by Grupo EL DEBER.
Public Safety Council convened urgently
In the face of advancing violence, the Governorate activated the Departmental Public Safety Council, in accordance with the powers granted by Law 264. The body brings together the Ministry of Government, the Armed Forces, the Police, the Public Prosecutor's Office and other institutions linked to security and justice.
At this meeting, particular analysis was given to the wave of violence recorded in San Ignacio de Velasco, a municipality in the Santa Cruz department that concentrates a significant portion of the incidents reported in recent weeks.
Santa Cruz received less than 10 per cent of certain national investments over two decades
Velasco also addressed the national Government's announcement of an investment exceeding 17,000 million bolivianos destined for Santa Cruz, news which he described as positive. However, he warned that the department has been historically underfunded within public investment programmes.
"If there are 100 bolivianos from the average of the last 20 years of the UPRE, for example, Santa Cruz received 9.8 per cent in investment. I am speaking of hard and real data, data taken from the INE," affirmed the governor.
Next week, Velasco will present together with the Santa Cruz Statistics Institute (ICE) a report with data on Santa Cruz's participation in the Special Projects Unit (UPRE), the National Regional Development Fund (FNDR) and the National Productive and Social Investment Fund (FPS). The documentation will be supported by official figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Infrastructure and regional ambition
The governor also detailed an agenda of infrastructure projects underway with the national Government. Among these he mentioned the development of the Viru Viru Hub, the construction and improvement of roads, the metropolitan train and the Okinawa–Los Troncos highway, a work which he described as historic for the Integrated North and the Santa Cruz productive sector.
In his long-term vision, Velasco projected multiplying agroindustrial exports, positioning Santa Cruz as a technologically significant centre in South America and converting it into a continental logistics hub, by air, land and rail. He also aspires for the department's population to increase from the current four million inhabitants to eight million in the next ten years, with the arrival of citizens from other departments and abroad.
Demand for greater autonomy and financial relief
Velasco raised a redefinition of the relationship between Santa Cruz and the central State, which he described as "very poor" in recent years. He demanded greater autonomy in areas such as health and resource administration, and gave as an example the need for the Governorate to be able to decide directly on the purchase of medicines, currently subject to decisions at the central level.
On financial matters, the governor reported on an agreement reached to transfer to the national level the responsibility for vaccination bonuses and property tax payments, costs which until now had been borne by the Governorate with approximately 70 million bolivianos annually. Velasco maintained that these obligations do not correspond to the remit of departmental autonomous entities. The measure is in the process of approval in the Senate.
Source: El Deber