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Vía Panamericana en una zona montañosa del Cauca con un peaje dañado a lo lejos y presencia militar junto a la carretera
Imagen generada alusiva a la vía Panamericana en el Cauca, con presencia militar y un peaje dañado a lo lejos tras el atentado contra El Mango.

Government responds after attack on El Mango toll in Cauca

Transport Minister Elsa Noguera rejected the motorcycle bomb attack that destroyed the El Mango toll in Cauca, the second in less than a month.

--- The context --- The El Mango toll, in the Cauca department, was targeted again in less than a month, on a corridor key to the region's connectivity. The Government's response came through Transport Minister Elsa Noguera, who linked the defense of infrastructure with community safety and opportunities. --- The facts --- This Saturday, October 31, criminals fully exploded the El Mango toll with a motorcycle bomb. It is the second attack against that toll in less than a month. On Monday, October 12, a car bomb caused major damage at the same toll and left three people injured. Those responsible for that attack were also identified as members of the Carlos Patiño structure. Troops from Brigade 29 are carrying out verification operations in the area to rule out other explosive devices and protect the civilian population. Authorities asked drivers not to approach the area and to take alternate routes, and asked the community to take the greatest possible precautions. --- The positions --- Noguera rejected the recent attacks, noting in indirect terms that they affect infrastructure, community safety and connectivity. She maintained that terrorist groups attack roads, works and tolls because infrastructure and development block their illegal activities, and that each road built and each corridor recovered gives communities more opportunities and crime less space. The minister shared that the Army's preliminary report attributes the attack to the Carlos Patiño structure, in the service of alias Iván Mordico. She said actions will be sought to protect road users, that Cauca is a Government priority, that equipment is being acquired to deploy the Meteoro Plan with the Military Forces and Police on the Pan-American Highway and other strategic corridors, that passage is maintained and that terrorism will not be allowed to intimidate communities or take over the roads. --- What remains unknown --- The full extent of the damage and the result of the verification in the area are not yet known. Nor has it been specified how and when the Meteoro Plan will be deployed in detail or what concrete actions will protect road users. --- Unanswered questions --- What will Brigade 29's verification find in the El Mango toll area? When will the Meteoro Plan be deployed on the Pan-American Highway and the other corridors? What concrete measures will protect drivers and communities after a second attack in less than a month? --- EPM analysis --- Two attacks against the same toll show that the dispute over the corridor is also a dispute over the State's presence and the region's opportunities. The official response combines rejection, military verification and a plan to keep passage without surrendering the roads. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the Government's response places the emphasis where the source supports it: protecting infrastructure is protecting communities and their connectivity. The deployment of the Meteoro Plan and Brigade 29's verification will be the real measure of that declared priority for Cauca. If passage is maintained and corridors are recovered, crime loses space and communities gain concrete opportunities in their daily lives, their work, their mobility across the region and their access to services and markets beyond their own towns and villages.
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