Four murders in three days: mayor of San Ignacio de Velasco demands State presence
Four people were shot dead in San Ignacio de Velasco in less than three days. Mayor Felman Gómez called for police and military reinforcements, and even support from Brazil.
Mayor desperate after four crimes in San Ignacio de Velasco
Four people were shot dead in San Ignacio de Velasco between the weekend and Monday night, 14 September, in what the municipality describes as an unprecedented escalation of violence. According to El Deber, the brutality of the crimes generated alarm among the population and forced the deployment of the Police and Armed Forces (FF.AA.) to that locality.
"Today we are desperate, we find ourselves in a state of defencelessness and we need the presence of the State in San Ignacio," declared mayor Felman Gómez Pesano when he met improvised with the Santa Cruz commander, colonel Edson Fernández, and representatives of the FF.AA. on Tuesday, 15 September.
Inter-institutional plan against organised crime
The meeting, which was originally scheduled with the new police border chief of the region, resulted in an expanded meeting with the highest military and police authorities present. From that dialogue emerged a commitment to coordinated work between institutions to confront organised crime which, according to Gómez, has been causing mourning and unrest among the municipality's residents.
"We have put forward an action plan, we have exchanged ideas and agreed that a task must be carried out by everyone," the mayor stated. Along with this, he made a call to families to become more involved in the development of their children.
Nevertheless, Gómez warned that the commitment must translate into concrete facts. "We want the State to establish presence and sovereignty, the presence of special groups and for them to stay in the municipality," he demanded.
Only 10 police officers for a city of 60,000 inhabitants
The mayor detailed the magnitude of the security deficit: San Ignacio de Velasco has only 40 police officers distributed across the entire municipality, of which only 10 personnel and two patrol cars cover the city, which has 60,000 inhabitants. "It is something insufficient and unsustainable," Gómez questioned.
The situation at borders is no better. The Migration service operates with only two officials to attend to a migratory flow that the mayor described as "enormously high". Faced with this scenario, Gómez did not rule out turning to the neighbouring state of Brazil if the central government does not reinforce border control. "If we do not have that support from the central Government, we are going to turn to the neighbouring state of Brazil to support us in border control," he stated.
Military in the streets by instruction of the Defence Ministry
The severity of the four homicides also motivated a response from the national government. By instruction of the Defence Ministry, in coordination with the Interior Ministry and the FF.AA., military deployment in the streets of the municipality was ordered to reinforce police work.
Gómez recalled that in July there was already a similar operation in the territory, but without effective permanence. "Previously, in July, they arrived and deployed across the entire territory, but here in San Ignacio de Velasco there are only 40 police officers," he noted, emphasising that without sustained presence the results will be limited.
The mayor acknowledged that restoring security will be "arduous and coordinated work," but insisted that the starting point is institutional strengthening in infrastructure and personnel. Until that happens, he indicated, there will be no possible progress.
His final message was direct: "Less talk and more action, that is what we want from law enforcement institutions."
Source: El Deber