On the night of Thursday, August 15, information from National Police investigators reached the office of President Gustavo Petro. It alerted him of an alleged plan to attack the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, the seat of the highest courts in Colombia. The president learned the details in the midst of an extraordinary Security Council meeting, which was also attended by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, and which contained reports of two raids carried out by the authorities south of Bogotá. In two homes, they found suitcases with explosives and models of the Palace.
Tensions are high among the top brass of the Colombian state. All the justice entities and the legislature have spoken out on Friday morning. They have asked for increased security around Plaza de Bolívar, the historic centre of Bogotá, which is surrounded not only by the Palace of Justice but also by the Capitol, where the Congress of the Republic meets, the Liévano Palace —where the Bogotá Mayor’s Office operates—, and the Primada Cathedral. Two blocks further south is the Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace, to which the alerts have also been extended.
In an emergency press conference, Supreme Court President Gerson Chaverra said that the High Courts expect investigations to be carried out and asked for security to be reinforced to guarantee the work of the judges. For now, they will operate normally. Behind the alarm is a ghost that is about to turn 40 years old. In 1985, a commando of the former M-19 guerrilla group took over the building that was previously the Palace, with dozens of judges inside. The government of Belisario Betancur refused to engage in dialogue, and a military takeover in blood and fire ended with 94 deaths, 12 disappearances, the judicial leadership dismantled and a building in ruins.
As of Friday afternoon, the Attorney General’s Office has announced that its specialized department against criminal organizations has opened an investigation to determine who could be behind the alleged plan to attack the Palace. In a country that faces strong armed conflicts, and in which several illegal armed groups have a presence in the cities and firepower – from the ELN guerrilla to the drug trafficking group called the Colombian Gaitanista Army, passing through part of the dissident groups of the extinct FARC – the hypotheses are varied. The most serious attack in recent years consisted of a car bomb that the ELN detonated at the police officers’ school in January 2019, which ruined the dialogue that it had established with the Executive at the time. The current negotiation with that guerrilla, in fact, is in crisis.
Minutes after the statement by the President of the Court, the Presidency of the Republic issued a statement announcing the reinforcement of security at the Palace of Justice. “Among the actions undertaken are the installation of advanced surveillance systems, the provision of anti-explosive equipment, the use of drones for continuous monitoring, and the intervention of specialized security units,” the text explains. The document also confirms that the General Commander of the National Police, General William Salamanca, is evaluating additional measures based on the intelligence information that led to the raids.
For Diana Remolina, president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (the autonomous administrative body of the Judicial Branch), the threat could threaten “the autonomy of the work carried out by justice in Colombia,” as well as the integrity of judicial officials. In a statement she read outside the Palace of Justice, where the Council is also based, she said that this is a matter of national security of the utmost importance.
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The Congress of the Republic has also issued warnings and expressed concerns. The Secretary General of the Senate, Gregorio Eljach, has sent a letter to the head of protection of the Congress in which he requests that he adopt urgent measures “to ensure the security of congressmen, officials and citizens in general.” In Plaza de Bolívar, in the heart of Bogotá, soldiers and special police units are already beginning to arrive to guard the Palace.
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