- By Antoinette Radford & Sam Hancock
- BBC News
March 3, 2023
Updated 25 minutes ago
video caption,
Watch: Police taken hostage during protest in Colombia
A group of police officers and oilfield workers taken hostage during protests in southern Colombia’s Caquetá province have been released, President Petro said.
Violence erupted on Thursday after local residents blocked the site of an oil exploration company. They requested his help in building roads in the area.
Colombian leader Gustavo Petro had called for Emerald Energy’s 79 officers and nine employees to be fired.
A police officer and a civilian have already been killed in the riots.
Mr Petro announced the release of the hostages, who were filmed sitting on the floor in a crowded room, and urged investigators to find those responsible for the two deaths.
Interior Minister Alfonso Prada said earlier on Friday they were killed by gunfire.
Many of the protesters are rural and indigenous people who want Emerald Energy to build new road infrastructure in the San Vicente del Caguan area.
The oil company did not respond when asked for comment by Portal news agency.
The Colombian police paid tribute to the police officer killed in the clash, whom they named Ricardo Monroy, on Twitter.
“Today we are more united than ever,” they wrote, adding that Mr. Monroy “offered his life in service.”
Colombia’s human rights ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, who was there to mediate, said he spoke to protesters and stopped them from dropping petrol bombs on the oil facility.
Protests in areas near power and mining operations in Colombia are commonplace as communities demand that companies build infrastructure, including roads and schools.
Police said a dissenting sub-group of FARC rebels opposed to the 2016 peace deal has a presence in the region and may have provoked the unrest.
Separately, Mr Petro unexpectedly released a statement on Twitter on Thursday, urging the country’s Attorney General to open a criminal probe into corruption allegations involving his own son and brother.
The statement didn’t detail the allegations against his eldest son, Nicolas Petro Burgos, and brother Juan Fernando Petro Urrego, but said “my government will not grant any benefits to criminals in exchange for bribes.”