Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez will be facing a no confidence vote over the killing of seven minors and children in a bombardment on a guerrilla camp in southern Colombia.
In a post on social media platform X, House Representative Katherine Miranda. a fierce critic of President Gustavo Petro, said she will call Sanchez to Congress on Tuesday.
Petro and his defense minister have justified the deaths of the four girls, three boys and 13 adult guerrillas, claiming they were part of a group of 150 that was kilometers away from attacking a group of 20 soldiers.
Identified minors
- Caren Smith Cubillos (13)
- Dani Santiago Leyton (15)
- Deini Lorena Beltran (16)
- Maicol Andres Perez (16)
- Martha Elena Abarca (17)
The president said on X that not carrying out the attack because of the presence of children would be the “wrong position” as this “leads to armed drug trafficking groups recruiting more and more children.”
Sanchez told media that the minors and children were legitimate military targets because they were actively taking part in a military offensive.
The killing of the minors and the government’s justification for doing so triggered fierce condemnation, particularly from Petro’s leftist base.
Senator Ivan Cepeda, the left’s favorite presidential candidate, said he unequivocally “condemns the bombing in Guaviare in which seven minors died.”
“Actions of this nature are clearly prohibited by humanitarian law,” Cepeda said on X.
Miranda called on the presidential hopeful and other leftists to support her no confidence motion in Congress.
“Coherence and principles should not depend on the government in power,” said the house representative.
Former Defense Minister Guillermo Botero was forced to resign in 2019 after Congress were planning a second no confidence vote on the killing of victims of forced recruitment in bombardments on alleged guerrilla camps.
