By 31 votes in favor and 79 against, the Upper House of the Colombian Congress rejected the motion of censure against Diego Molano. | Photo: El País

Bogota, May 27 (RHC)-- The Colombian Senate rejected this Thursday to remove Diego Molano as Minister of Defense, after last Monday the high official attended a debate on a motion of censure against him for "the war treatment he has given to the social mobilization," a statement that also includes the police violence that organizations and civilians have denounced since the beginning of the National Strike, last April 28.

In a roll call vote, by 31 votes in favor and 79 against, the Upper House of the Colombian Congress did not follow the stipulations of Article 135, numeral 9 of the Colombian Constitution, regarding the removal from office of ministers who fail to perform their duties.

Some of the opposition senators who voted "yes" did so with brief statements against the repression unleashed by the public forces, for which Diego Molano, in his capacity as Minister of Defense, is responsible.

Senator Iván Cepeda Castro said: "In an act of complicity with the impunity of crimes against humanity, the Senate denied a motion of censure against Minister Molano.  Iván Duque's government and his ministers will go down in history as frustrated gravediggers of peace and Colombia's weak democracy."

"For those who lost one of their eyes," "responsible for crimes against humanity", "responsible for repression," "for the victims who have fallen in social mobilizations," were some of the expressions heard either from the plenary headquarters or from those who linked through the Internet.