Francia Márquez’ father (C) during the rescue operation after the armed attack. Photo: X/ @WRadioColombia

Bogota, June 17 (RHC)-- Sigifredo Márquez Trujillo, father of the Vice President of Colombia, France Márquez, was unharmed when he was traveling between the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, in the southwest of the country, according to official sources.

The attack took place when Márquez Trujillo was traveling with a nephew of the vice president between the towns of Timba, in the troubled department of Cauca, and the hamlet Robles, a rural area of Jamundí (Valle del Cauca).

In a day which the Father’s Day it is celebrated in Colombia, the vice-president stated that “It pains my heart, that just this day, my father was attacked. I inform that my father, along with my 6-year-old nephew and the two men of protection, suffered an attack on the Suarez-Cali road, at the height of Timba, fortunately they were unharmed and are well.”

“It pains my heart, that just this day, my father was attacked. I report that my father, along with my 6-year-old nephew and the two men of protection, suffered an attack on the Suarez-Cali road, near Timba, fortunately they were unharmed and are well.  I express my concern for security in Cauca, Valle del Cauca, in the municipality of Suárez and the district of La Toma, as well as for the security of my community and my family.  I request the @FiscaliaCol to open the relevant investigations to clarify these facts. To @mindefensa take the necessary measures to strengthen the presence of military and police forces, which contribute to ensure security in Cauca and Valle del Cauca. At this difficult time, I appeal to the whole of Colombia to join efforts to lead our society to peace. If we work together we can turn this page of pain and violence.“ 

For its part, the Military Forces Command said that “according to the first information, the vehicle in which she was moving (the official’s father) through the Timba sector was hit on four occasions by gunfire. Fortunately without any consequences to regret.”

“A embrace of solidarity for Vice-President France Marquez for the attack on her father. I ask the authorities to initiate the relevant investigations,” wrote Colombian President Gustavo Petro, while his press office confirms in a statement that the vice president’s father was unharmed.

“Attacks against the civilian population are a flagrant violation of international rights and human rights. It is unacceptable that armed groups operating in the area continue to use disproportionate violence and terror as tools of war,” the Presidency added.

In Cauca and in its neighbor Department of Valle del Cauca, there is evidence of the intensification of the armed conflict and direct violence, not only by the presence and territorial control of the groups present, but by the entry into these areas of other illegal armed structures.