Bogotá (EFE).- The Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, presided over the traditional military parade on Independence Day in Bogotá in which the Armed Forces and the Police demonstrated their capabilities with a large female participation.
Márquez, who replaced President Gustavo Petro on the rostrum of honor, is the first woman to preside over the country’s main military parade, after 213 years of independence, and in which more than 9,000 members of the public force participated.
Petro, for his part, traveled to the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina to celebrate with the islanders the national holiday and the recent ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that prevented Nicaragua from extending its continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles that delimit its maritime border with Colombia.
The National Navy will be 200 years old
The National Navy, which will be 200 years old next Monday and whose role in the defense of national sovereignty has been highlighted by Petro, opened the parade on Avenida Boyacá in Bogotá and was also the protagonist of another one presided over by the president in San Andrés.
The National Army, the most powerful branch of the Colombian Military Forces, continued with the presentation of its different training schools, weapons and units to the rhythm of marching bands.
The public stationed on both sides of the avenue witnessed the passage of units such as the Joint Command of Special Operations, considered the elite group of the Army; the Air Assault Division, the Urban Anti-Terrorist Special Forces and the Commando Forces, champions of 12 of the 17 international competitions in their category in which they have participated.
Along with them paraded lancers, paratroopers, amphibious units and brigades such as Military Engineers, Humanitarian Demining, Disaster Care and Prevention and Light Cavalry, among others, while planes and helicopters flew through the Bogotá sky.
women and rescuers
For the first time, two platoons made up exclusively of women who are part of Army infantry battalions paraded.
So did a group of soldiers who participated in “Operation Hope”, which on June 9 rescued four indigenous children in the south of the country who were lost for 40 days in the jungle after surviving a plane crash.
Behind the Army it was the turn of the air force whose institution, according to Petro in San Andrés, changed its name from the Colombian Air Force to the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC).
Among the members of the FAC, the “Halcones Dorados” unit performed skillful maneuvers with their rifles in front of the grandstand where the vice president and military commanders were.
The parade was closed by the National Police, which paid tribute to the 36,000 women of the institution, who were the majority in its presentation today and represented 90% of the participants.
Similar military and police parades were also held in the 32 departmental capitals and other cities of the country.
The activities of Independence Day will conclude with the installation of the new regular session of Congress, in which Petro will take stock of his management and his bench will once again promote the social reforms that did not pass in the previous year.