Armada Nacional de Colombia

But nothing, not any lack of understanding, nor slander, nor obstacles, nor the enemy’s weapons, nor the inevitable reverses have been able to quench the indomitable spirit that breathes life into us.

The fight is always difficult and the moment of final victory, which is ours and now, brings with it the double burden of responsibility and glory. Aware of what this implies, our fighting orders are precise and definitive: we are going to win the war and we are going to conquer the peace. The Colombian Government and the Colombian people are willing to give us everything within their reach. Whatever is left, Mr. President and Mr. Minister of Defense JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, we will provide from our hearts.

This supreme effort entails opportune and bold decision-making. The high military command will not shrink from ours. And neither will our officers or soldiers fail to take the necessary risks or shy from any commitment that is required. At the supreme hour there is no room for hesitation, or errors of omission.

Above all, there is no room for the worst thing of all, the squandering of opportunities. In the final attack, which begins today, each one of us will be at his post and will do his duty. Anyone who does not feel he has sufficient skill or enthusiasm for this undertaking, just say so now rather than later. The just word and reason will remove him from these enormous responsibilities. We shall understand.

We will make no mistakes, at the culminating moment, in the diagnosis of our duty. If we wage a war against narco-terrorist aggression, then the destruction of the drug trade is a condition for victory. Drug trafficking will no longer be a public order civilian problem.

On the contrary, it will become part of our military role, taking full advantage of the invaluable cooperation from the National Police for which we can never express enough gratitude, and of the cooperation from those friendly countries that have extended a hand in solidarity, and who with limitless generosity have shared their wisdom and experience.

The enemies whom we will utterly defeat have committed every crime imaginable against humanity. Their genius for evil overwhelms the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, and they have refined it into the most cruel, abject, and ruthless technique for mistreatment which is that of kidnapping. As long as any of our fellow countrymen suffer because of these infamous chains, we will not rest or consider our mission complete.

The forces of terror have been isolated and surrounded, but not nearly enough: the road becomes more difficult to walk each day. Contingencies arise and, as President ALVARO URIBE VELEZ has said, “these criminals will not negotiate out of a desire to make political concessions, but only out of necessity.” Therefore, let us not underestimate, especially in terms of their financial apparatus, their ability to survive.

Defeating the finances of these armed criminals, blocking their access to chemical precursors, and the fuel and cement they use for working coca leaves and opium poppies, is a peremptory and standing order. And, in reference to their leaders, those who have direct armed responsibility will be as important to us as those who make their detestable activities possible through trafficking narcotics, financing equipment, and sustaining despicable mercenaries. The eradication of illicit crops, as part of this undeniable logic, also becomes a fundamental matter for our attention.

Perhaps we will be the first army in history to win a war with the fundamental concern for the respect of International Humanitarian Law, which we observe from the shining tower of our Constitution and our laws. We will not dishonor our battle with any savage act, or cruelty or cowardice against the defeated. Our results give us legitimacy with the people for whom we fight, and the justice system will justify us in the eyes of the world and before posterity. A momentary setback is a thousand times preferable than to bear an affront to our dignity forever.

A war has never been won by losing popular support. The overwhelming favorability with which Colombians judge our conduct must not make us vain or turn us from our path. Under the instructions of the civil power we will contribute to building the peace.

The lands and assets of all the criminals who have battered the Republic must be returned to their legitimate owners, the people of Colombia. Each military unit must denounce false property titles held by the defeated delinquents. Our nearness to the great stage where events take place makes us key actors in the discovery of these illegally acquired assets. It also gives us a role fully guaranteeing for the new, legally resolved, and creative property titles handed down by judges.

Due to our limitations, Colombia had until recently lost sovereignty over half of its territory. This will never happen again. There are mistakes that cannot be repeated and we will save no effort to protect, from the day of the next victory, the invaluable public good of peace within order.

These words have been authorized by our Supreme Commander, the President of the Republic, and by the Minister of Defense. We make each one of these commitments with the same solemnity with which we once swore before the flag, our commitment to honor it, defend it, and serve it. A clean and decisive victory which cannot be postponed is now more than never the most sacred of our duties. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen: Steadfastness and Honor!

General Freddy Padilla De León
General Commander
Military Forces of Colombia