Terrified children cowered under their school desks, their voices lifting in prayer and song amid the sounds of a firefight between FARC dissidents and the Colombian Army. This harrowing scene on Tuesday unfolded in a rural school in Suárez, Cauca, and was captured in a video. The footage, taken by a teacher at the Agricultural Educational Institution, shows the young students’ desperate attempts to find solace and safety as gunshots and explosions detonated around them.
The children, some as young as four, have already experienced more trauma than most adults. Last year, their previous school was hit by an explosive during an attack by FARC dissidents under command of “Iván Mordisco”. Now, in their new school, they follow meticulously practiced safety protocols, huddling under desks and adopting fetal positions to protect themselves from the ongoing violence that has become a grim routine in their lives.
In stark contrast to these scenes of terror, President Gustavo Petro has directed his focus on international issues, particularly condemning Israel and decrying what he terms as “genocide” in Gaza. Despite the escalating violence at home, including recent attacks by FARC dissidents that have claimed the lives of several police officers and civilians – among them a 12-year-old boy in Morales (Cauca) – Petro has ordered not to resume the ceasefire with the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central) of FARC.
The incongruity between the President’s international concerns and the urgent security needs of his citizens is striking. As the children of Suárez sing and pray for their lives under their desks, the nation’s leader remains committed to opening an embassy in Ramallah (West Bank), while leaving the vulnerable communities of Cauca at the mercy of terrorists.
Speaking at a May Day rally in Bogotá, President Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel, condemning the country’s leadership for “the girls, the boys, the babies who have died dismembered by the bombs” in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
The cessation of more than sixty years of close diplomatic relations has left a void in Colombia’s defense infrastructure, potentially compromising the Armed Forces’ ability to address security challenges as illegal armed groups expand their territorial control in the southwest of the country. “With the breaking of relations with Israel, Gustavo Petro achieves one of the main objectives of his government: paralyzing and dismantling the Colombian Armed Forces and Police,” warned former Conservative President Andrés Pastrana on his “X” account.
Colombia was not the first Latin American country to cut ties with Israel since the war broke out with Hamas. Bolivia did so at the end of October last year, while several other countries in Latin America, including Chile and Brazil, recalled their ambassadors.
“President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” announced Colombia’s Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo. The response from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to Petro’s decision to cut ties was that it was a “reward for Hamas” from someone who is “antisemitic and full of hate.”
As the children of Suárez endure a daily barrage of gunfire by FARC dissidents attempting to storm the military base at Los Pinos on the outskirts of town, opposition lawmakers in Bogotá held a silent protest outside Congress to raise awareness of the dire security situation in the department of Cauca. Meanwhile, as youngsters throughout the department are caught in a seemingly endless crossfire, President Petro has his X-finger firmly pressed on hashtag #Gaza.
