The commander of the Colombian Army, Eduardo Zapateiro, resigns

(Credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) --

General Eduardo Zapateiro, commander of the Colombian Army, announced Tuesday that he is leaving his post.

His resignation comes after the election of Gustavo Petro, with whom he has clashed in networks.

"I will do it on July 20, the day that this soldier, after 40 years of service and having done my compulsory military service as a high school graduate, will say goodbye to the Colombian people," Zapateiro said during a promotion ceremony for more than 1,200 soldiers.

Zapateiro has been the commander of the Army since December 2019, when he was appointed by Iván Duque.

He replaced Nicacio Martínez, a general who left after the publication of an article in

that questioned Martínez's alleged orders for the uniformed officers to supposedly "double the number of criminals and rebels who kill, capture or force them to surrender in battle."

Zapateiro, born in 1962 in Cartagena, began his military career as a Second Lieutenant of the Infantry in 1985. He is known for planning and leading Operation Fénix, in March 2008, in which Luis Edgar Devia Silva, alias "Raúl Reyes", second leader of the FARC at that time.

Zapateiro has had public statements on networks that have been news.

After the disclosure of a report by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in February 2021, which determined that in Colombia at least 6,402 people were victims of so-called false positives, deaths illegitimately presented by the State as casualties in combat between 2002 and 2008, Zapateiro posted this tweet.

"We are soldiers of the @COL_EJERCITO, and we will not let ourselves be defeated by more poisonous and perverse vipers that want to attack us, point us out or weaken us. Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, we do not give up, we do not give up, always strong with our heads held high. God is with us. U.S".

• What are false positives in Colombia and what are the most recent revelations

And in the recent elections he confronted the current president-elect, Gustavo Petro, on Twitter.

On April 20, the then candidate of the Historical Pact tweeted that there would be Army generals on the payroll of the Clan del Golfo, something that the Justice has not confirmed.

Zapateiro replied: "Senator, do not use your investiture (parliamentary inviolability) to pretend to engage in politicking with the death of our soldiers, rather comply with your citizen duty of substantiated denunciation before the @FiscaliaCol of the facts that you mention, be whoever".

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For that statement Zapateiro was sued for alleged political participation.

Zapateiro's resignation also occurs on the same day as the final report of the Truth Commission, an entity created by the 2016 peace agreement, with recommendations for the Government and the Armed Forces to overcome the armed conflict and avoid its repetition.

Army