Security and respect for Human Rights are essential for the sustainable development of the regions

The Colombian Association of Oil and Gas (ACP) categorically rejects the violent acts that occurred today in the Quifa field, jurisdiction of the Puerto Triunfo neighborhood of Puerto Gaitán (Meta), where a group of people illegally entered the facilities of cluster 242 and caused a fire that posed a direct threat to the well-being of the communities, the integrity of the workers, regional stability, and the country's energy infrastructure.

These events are deliberate and criminal actions that undermine public order, endanger people's lives, and severely affect regional development. This type of act must be clearly differentiated from the exercise of social protest, from peaceful citizen expressions, which are part of a plural democracy and must be channeled through institutional dialogue.

Since May 6, illegal actions have been recorded in the area, such as roadblocks, attacks on the Public Force, and direct impacts on operations, with negative consequences for the daily lives of the communities, local employment, social investment, and collective well-being.

The ACP expresses solidarity with the communities, workers, and companies that are facing this security crisis today; insists on dialogue as a legitimate way to build solutions, and makes a respectful but emphatic call to the competent authorities to act swiftly and decisively, ensuring the restoration of public order, the protection of human rights, and critical infrastructure. It also reiterates the need to reject any form of violence or illegitimate pressure as a mechanism of dialogue, and to rigorously advance investigations that allow for the identification and sanctioning of those responsible in accordance with the law.

Similar situations have occurred in departments such as Sucre and Arauca, which shows a worrying deterioration in security and public order conditions in several regions of the country. This situation demands urgent and coordinated attention from the national Government and the competent authorities.

Finally, the guild insists that the sustainable development of the regions requires safe environments, strengthened institutions, and cooperation between the State, communities, and the business sector.