A bodyguard protecting a municipal leader fired a warning shot during a union protest on Thursday outside the Nestle plant in the municipality of Bugalagrande in the southwestern department of Valle del Cauca.
An argument broke out between union demonstrators and the president of the city council of the nearby municipality of Tulua, who is a long-time Nestle employee.
The confrontation prompted the bodyguard to draw his pistol and fire a warning shot in the air.
No injuries were reported.
Police arrested the bodyguard.
The plant is operated by Nestle Colombia, a subsidiary of the Switzerland-based food and drink conglomerate.
Municipal leaders from Tulua said the bodyguard heard a gunshot prior to firing the warning shot.
They also claimed that a group of demonstrators attempted to attack the Tulua official/Nestle employee.
Video of the incident on social media refutes these claims.
Some reports suggested the bodyguard was a member of the National Protection Unit (Spanish abbr: UNP), an entity under the Ministry of the Interior which provides close protection for high-risk individuals throughout Colombia such as politicians, judicial personnel, journalists and community leaders.
It would appear that the bodyguard was assigned to the Nestle employee strictly due to his status as a municipal leader in Tulua.
The UNP has a controversial history, with its leaders having been accused of corruption and multiple high-profile incidents involving the questionable conduct of its security escorts.
The checkered history of the UNP is an indication of the poor level of vetting and training its security personnel receive.
Private bodyguards and static security personnel should never be trained to fire warning shots, regardless of the situation.
If security escorts are to be employed, they should be contracted through reputable security companies that thoroughly vet and train their personnel, who ideally should be former military operatives or policemen.
Employees of multinationals who retain their own personal security should receive approval from senior security managers before they are allowed access to company property.
