De la Espriella Draws Backlash for Posing Among 23 Body Bags in Guaviare

President de la Espriella was photographed walking among 23 body bags containing presumed FARC dissidents killed in Operation Azarías, displayed on the floor of a military battalion in San José del Guaviare — the final toll after two more bodies were recovered and identified. He warned Iván Mordisco directly: 'Vamos detrás de ti, Mordisco, no podrás escapar de la acción del gobierno... Cuando menos pienses, una bomba va a caer sobre ti.' The images drew sharp criticism: Pacto Histórico senator Iván Cepeda called it the act of 'un ser sin escrúpulos y sin el más mínimo sentido de humanidad,' cartoonist and analyst Vladimir Flórez ('Vladdo') said 'un Estado se distingue de sus adversarios por cómo trata a los vencidos, incluso después de muertos,' and Ombudsman Iris Marín stressed that minors linked to armed groups remain victims entitled to state protection. Critics argue the public display of corpses violates International Humanitarian Law's prohibition on degrading treatment of the dead; de la Espriella's supporters and his Defensores de la Patria movement defended the display as transparency about the operation's results.