The military deployment in the national territory on the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic: defense support duties to the civil authority

Abstract

The Colombian National Army has the premise of supporting the civil authority in the exercise of government as part of its military operations. Therefore, it is imminent to highlight the support duties to the defense of the civil authority (ADAC) as a military action inherent to the constitutional mission imposed. In this sense, the territorial authorities must make use of this legitimate tool granted by the Constitution and the laws at all levels for the maintenance of public order. Such tool has been coordinated and synchronized in a unity of effort to achieve a common goal, which, in this case, is the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of military forces is not exclusive to the state of war or internal disturbance; accordingly, it is a multiplier of capacities in any state of emergency legitimately decreed by the Executive, such is the case of the current situation in which the role of the military forces contributes significantly to the social discipline that is required in the midst of the measures of sanitary distancing.