He Defense Minister Iván Velásquez“will verify the incidence of religious beliefs” of the director of the Police, the general Henry Sanabriaafter some controversial statements about HIV cases in the institution, criticism of the use of condoms as a contraceptive method and defense of exorcism.
Sanabria had already been at the center of controversy after complaints were made public about the Catholic religious methods and rites that the general would have imposed on the institution since his arrival.
In the most recent interview, granted to Semana magazine this weekend, Sanabria reaffirmed his “firm faith” in his office, where several figures of virgins and crucifixes could be seen.
Also read: They investigate payment of Soat accidents to deceased people
Faced with the controversy raised, “the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, will verify the incidence of the religious beliefs of the director of Police, Henry Sanabria, in the management of the institution,” said the Defense portfolio on Monday in a Twitter message.
“I wish we could” get unfaithful agents out of the institution, was one of the general’s statements, who assured that “a person who is unfaithful is not a guarantee pledge.” “Usually unfaithful people end up doing bad things,” in the general’s words.
Sanabria also referred to the right of women to have an abortion, which he assured was “a mortal sin because it threatens life (…) Very strong hatred is generated when abortion is done.”
The general also commented that he “respects and enforces respect” for LGTBI people, but assured that the Police is the force “with the most people with HIV”, so “you have to be careful because, unfortunately, HIV leads to death”, falling into a fallacy, since an HIV infection is not, today, synonymous with death.
“Unfortunately, since there are so many of us and there is a large LGTBI community within the institution, suddenly there is no education that allows them to be careful in what they do,” according to Sanabria, who added that there are 12,000 people with HIV out of the 165,000 police officers. the public force. Regarding the use of condoms, he considered that it is “an abortifacient method.”
Also made reference to exorcisms within the Police and recounted an episode in Medellín which he called “supernatural” after they tried to help a criminal who had been stabbed to death, but who dragged himself away despite the fact that he did not have a pulse. He had an amulet coiled up, and after it was cut off, he stopped moving, in the general’s words.
“The existence of the devil is true. I have seen it, I have perceived it, for many it is a fable and others do not believe (…) It is a very complex issue” because “just by mentioning it, the evil one gets angry Sanabria added.
“Thanks to the courage of many priests we have managed to counteract this evil within the Police,” he indicated to exemplify with the death in an operation of the former guerrilla commander “Mono Jojoy” the success of these exorcisms.
To which he added that “in all the cases of the Central General Staff of the FARC everything was done with exorcism”, also in the case of “Raúl Reyes” and “Alfonso Cano”, leaders of the extinct FARC whom Sanabria assured that they used ” witchcraft” to protect themselves.
Besides: JEP will advance international tour to expose its achievements
And not only in the case of the guerrillas, but also of other armed groups, such as the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), and against the drug trafficker Pablo Escobar and his henchmen.
Sanabria, who was appointed by President Gustavo Petro, when he came to office, has been criticized precisely for his religious fanaticism and his opinions, branded as misogynistic and homophobic, despite the fact that the head of state has come out to defend him after the latter. interview.
“We know about the general’s belief, but what we are trying to do is ensure that those beliefs do not affect the rules, it’s that simple,” Petro said from the Dominican Republic, where he attended the Ibero-American Summit this weekend, adding that in any case they ensure that “the belief does not end up affecting the constitutional development of a public function”.