Strong explosion rocks Colombia radio station

[Judi Lynn]

Strong explosion rocks Colombia radio station
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 12, 2010 -- Updated 1130 GMT (1930 HKT)

Bogota, Colombia (CNN) -- A strong explosion caused considerable damage to the headquarters of Caracol Radio in Bogota, Colombia, CNN en Espanol anchor Luis Carlos Velez reported from the nation's capital Thursday.

Images from CNN affiliate Caracol TV showed blown out windows at the radio station headquarters and adjacent buildings. Police cordoned off the street, which was vacant except for officers and other officials.

The explosion occurred at 5:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. ET), Caracol said.

There was no immediate official word on casualties, although Caracol TV reported four wounded, two of them seriously.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/12/colombia.explosion/index.html#fbid=q1U2OJnT7yd&wom=false

[dipsydoodle]

1. Believed to have been playing

a Celine Dion track at the time in which case it deserved to be destroyed. :)

[Judi Lynn]

2. They're lucky we didn't hear it first!

http://www.saidaonline.com.nyud.net:8090/en/newsgfx/celine%20dion.jpg http://static.howstuffworks.com.nyud.net:8090/gif/emergency-3.jpg

[CJvR]

3. Seems NARC...

... & co is going allout to welcome the new administration.

[Bacchus39]

4. it was a car bomb, FARC suspected

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100812/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_colombia_explosion

[Wilms]

6. FARC? Really? It doesn't say that in the article.

It's one thing to have an opinion, misleading DUers quite another.

[Bacchus39]

7. oh, I'm sorry, it says "leftist rebels" I wouldn't want to make the FARC look bad n/t

s

[Wilms]

8. You're only continuing to make your posts look bad. Here's the snip.

Gen. Cesar Pinzon, the city's police chief, suggested leftist rebels could have set off the blast, but said authorities were not sure if the bomb was aimed at the station or at several nearby bank headquarters.

For all I know, YOU "could have set off the blast".

[Bacchus39]

10. that's why I put "suspected" in my post

anyway, you don't have to read my posts. and I couldn't have set off the blast since I am not currently in Bogota.

I suspect the FARC as well, but am in no way certain so I'll leave it that.

[Wilms]

12. Exactly. YOU put in "suspected". No one else.

A police person "suggested" FARC "could have".

Words matter.

[Judi Lynn]

5. How well we remember the bogus "FARC attack" by Colombian military officers

the night before Alvaro Uribe was inaugurated. How clever of them. One in a long, LONG string of bogus crappy acts:

School of Americas Graduates Implicated in Bogotá Bombings
(by John Lindsay-Poland)

http://www.soaw.org.nyud.net:8090/img/bogotabombs.gif

A director of Colombian military intelligence and another officer implicated in a series of false attacks and a bombing that killed a civilian and injured 19 soldiers in Bogotá in 2006, attended the US Army School of the Americas, an examination of records shows.

The Colombian Public Ministry is investigating Colonel Horacio Arbelaez, former director of the Army’s Joint Intelligence Center; Major Javier Efrén Hermida Benavides; and Captain Luis Eduardo Barrero for orchestrating placement of bombs in a Bogota shopping mall and other sites in July 2006, on the eve of President Uribe’s inauguration for his second term. At the time of the bombing and false attacks, they were attributed to guerrillas of the FARC. In most cases, the bombs were not detonated, but were denounced by the accused officers and deactivated to demonstrate the FARC threat and show military intelligence was doing its work.

http://www.soaw.org.nyud.net:8090/img/hermidaandbarrera.gif

(Photo: Maj. Hermida and Capt. Barrero)

Hermida took two courses at the School of the Americas, including a three-month military intelligence intensive in 2000, while Arbelaez took an infantry course at the School in 1981. A statistical study by sociologist Katherine McCoy found that the more courses Latin American officers took at the School, the more likely they were to commit abuses. (Latin American Perspectives, 2005, http://lap.sagepub.com )

In addition, the Army Joint Intelligence Center that Arbelaez directed receives US aid, according to a State Department list of units vetted to receive assistance.

The officers reportedly collaborated with a FARC deserter on placing the bombs, according to tapes, videos and documents. Hermida, who claims his innocence, told a Colombian radio station that the operation at the shopping mall was carried out with knowledge of high military officials.

Hermida and Barrero also face criminal charges for the false attacks, five of which had been united into one case by the Prosecutor General’s office.

Arbelaez, who is now Colombia’s defense attaché in Israel, was previously head of intelligence for the Army’s 18th Brigade. That brigade, based in oil-rich Arauca state, has received extensive assistance and in-country training from US Special Forces.

Press reports identified Hermida and Barrero as belonging to the Army’s 13th Brigade part of which receives US assistance, as well as to a regional military intelligence center that also receives US aid.

http://www.soaw.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=205

[gbscar]

9. Doesn't prevent FARC from being behind this one, even if there are other possibilities too...

...so, rather than preemptively blaming or absolving FARC, how about waiting for more information?

As much as there have, in fact, been a number of false attacks blamed on FARC in the past that were apparently carried out by the military or other entities and interest groups (the drug cartels themselves, for example), there's no lack of organizations who could have been behind today's car bomb either.

Including FARC. I'm sure someone will claim it's not in FARC's interest to blow stuff up, not now and not ever, but that really depends. I can think of at least a couple of rationales that could justify this from their point of view, just as there are reasons why it may have been in someone else's benefit.

In short, some patience wouldn't hurt anyone.

[rabs]

11. Photos are up (El Espectador)

-------------------

Bogota mayor saying 50 kilos of an explosive "anfo" were used.

So, on the first day of Santos' presidency, a massive fire destroys sensitive files in a tribunals building, then today a car bomb in the heart of Bogota !!

Commenters saying it could be any number responsibe. FARC (doubtful), DAS, armed forces, paras, narcos, even friends of Pablo Escobar. Radio Caracol in recent days has been slamming a new book on the life of Escobar.

Agree with gbscar, best to wait until smoke clears, and bien venido to the forum.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Wow! That was a biggie. Someone was sending a message, a loud one.

Was Caracol panning the book by the son of Escobar? We remember his mistress also put one out a year or two ago, with the assistance of a reporter from El Nuevo in Miami.

I wonder if his son also mentioned Pablo Escobar was close to Uribe....

Thank you for posting these photos. It adds so much to see the effect.

[rabs]

14. Actually it is Pablo Escobar's sister, Alba Marina Escobar

Alba Marina on the right

who wrote the latest book. The title is "El otro Pablo" (The Other Pablo) and Alba Marina describes it as a homage from a sister to her brother.

I heard her being inverviewed on Radio Caracol a few days ago. She insisted that Pablo E. had committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol, contradicting reports Colombian DAS agents had tracked him down and shot him.

It was a long, rambling interview, mostly in defense of her brother. The interviewers, a man and a women, were pretty tough in their questions.

In another interview, Alba Marina stated that if she had revealed everything that she knew in the book, she "would be dead tomorrow."

There was also a curious reference to Pablo. She said that her brother had "democratized" the billions of drug dollars Pablo made from the cocaine industry.

In Medellin, Pablo Escobar in the early years used his drug money to provide housing for the poor, built schools, clinics and all sorts of other civic projects. That made him sort of a Colombian Robin Hood to the poor.



Monument at the hacienda of Pablo Escobar. The plane was said to be the first Escobar used to transport cocaine to the United States.

Btw, last month three bodies were found buried in unmarked graves on the hacienda grounds. Unknown who the victims were and how long they had been there.

[Judi Lynn]

15. His sister, too. Didn't know. Now he has two relatives with books out on him.

That's unusual.

You know, the only thing the public has on the death of Pablo Escobar is the word of the government, and the photo of a dead Pablo lying on the tiled roof of some building with some agents posed around him. Probably anything could have happened to bring them all there to that one spot at the same time!

I think I heard he was a harsh boss to his employees and would deal out extreme punishments to them if they got on his bad side. Wow. I also heard he had MANY policemen killed.

Getting that airplane to stay on that arch looks like one tough procedure. Looks like a daily insult to the officials to keep his first dope plane a place of prominence at his estate.

His former mistress revealed Uribe was the one who made it possible for his airplane business to flourish by passing legislation when he was a Senator which allowed private property owners to build their own airstrips. I think that's the way it went. I heard she said that Escobar felt an enthusiastic love for Uribe for doing it.

Oh, yeah, something I just remembered: when the reporter from El Nuevo collaborated with the former girlfriend to produce the book, that's when he got on Uribe's really bad side, and he started getting death threats. I would think a death threat indicates something in the book hit Uribe close to home, and a public denial didn't seem adequate!

Thanks for the photos. Very interesting.

[rabs]

16. So, who yanked the police protection at Radio Caracol

Story in El Espectador says police protection at Caracol's flagship radio station was withdrawn three weeks ago. MinDefense says investigation under way to find out who ordered the cops pulled.

Hummmm ... three weeks ago. uribito was still in the presidency ....

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/articulo-218950-mindefensa-inicio-investigacion-retiro-de-policia-de-alrededor-de-

[Judi Lynn]

17. This is wierd. Police protection around Radio Caracol, then suddenly it's all gone, then BOOM.

The hard part will be trying to guess if you can trust what the explanation will be!

It should be interesting, all right.

As it is, sounds as if someone wanted to get the cops outta the way so the bombing could be accomplished without any witnesses.

[rabs]

18. Police protection has been boosted

in Bogota at all TV, radio stations, newspapers and other media outlets.

Btw, the Caracol building also houses the Consulate of Ecuador, the Spanish news agency EFE, private banks and the offices of former Colombian President César Gaviria among other entities.

Plenty of juicy targets there for all brands of "terrorists."

[rabs]

19. Santos offering a 500, 000,000 peso reward

JM and Vargas Lleras (Interior Minister) at the scene yesterday (Thursday).

For information leading to the car bombers. 500 million pesos = US$ 272,000.

Last night the government said there would be no reward. Today Santos reverses decision.

His presidency is off to a rocky start domestically. Somebody is challenging him big time.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Question about this Colombian article: Does it say the Black Eagles take credit for Radio Caracol's

car bomb?

eltiempo.com / colombia / justicia
Iván Cepeda recibió amenaza de muerte en la que le dan 20 horas para abandonar Bogotá

http://www.eltiempo.com.nyud.net:8090/colombia/justicia/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-7851181-2.png

Foto: EL TIEMPO
Iván Cepeda, representante a la Cámara por Bogotá.


El representante a la Cámara recibió un e-mail firmada por el bloque central de las Águilas Negras.

El comunicado, dirigido también a Rigoberto Jiménez, director de la Coordinación Nacional de Desplazados (CND) y Alfonso Castillo, del colectivo de abogados, ANDAS, trata de "perros guerrilleros" a los amenazados.

Cepeda, del Polo Democrático, afirmó: "No nos van a intimidar. Ellos quieren sembrar un clima de terror en el país, muestra de eso es el atentado contra la cadena radial Caracol".

El hecho se produce una semana antes de realizarse el debate sobre tierras y desplazamiento forzado, plenaria que se llevará a cabo el próximo miércoles en la Cámara de Representantes.

http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/amenazan-de-muerte-a-ivan-cepeda_7862022-1

I tried google translate but it was awful on this story. Thanks for any help.

[rabs]

21. Yep, the Black Eagles, "demilitarized" paramilitaries

edit to add:
Iván Cepeda recibió amenaza de muerte en la que le dan 20 horas para abandonar Bogotá

-- received a death threat in which he is given 20 hours to leave Bogota


Foto: EL TIEMPO
Iván Cepeda, representante a la Cámara por Bogotá.
-- Chamber of deputies representative from Bogota

El representante a la Cámara recibió un e-mail firmada por el bloque central de las Águilas Negras.

-- The legislator of the Chamber received an e-mail signed by the Central Bloc of the Black Eagles.

El comunicado, dirigido también a Rigoberto Jiménez, director de la Coordinación Nacional de Desplazados (CND) y Alfonso Castillo, del colectivo de abogados, ANDAS, trata de "perros guerrilleros" a los amenazados.

-- The communique, addressed also to Rigoberto Jimenez, director of the National Coordinator for the Displaced and Alfonso Castillo, from the lawyers group ANDAS, labeled them as "guerrilla dogs."

Cepeda, del Polo Democrático, afirmó: "No nos van a intimidar. Ellos quieren sembrar un clima de terror en el país, muestra de eso es el atentado contra la cadena radial Caracol".

-- Cepeda, from the Democratic Polo party, said, "They are not going to intmidate us. They want to sow a climate of fear in the country; an example of that is the attack against the Caracol radio network."

El hecho se produce una semana antes de realizarse el debate sobre tierras y desplazamiento forzado, plenaria que se llevará a cabo el próximo miércoles en la Cámara de Representantes.

-- The incident came a week before the debate over lands and forced displacements, (which) will be discussed next Wednesday by the full Chamber of Deputies.

----------------

Rough week for JM Santos. It smacks of the hard-core uribistas roiling the waters for JM.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Oh, boy. So it's one week before they attempt to consider actions on the land which the paras took

and the people driven away from their homes, etc.? So they want to send a message things could get even worse in a hurry if they make the wrong decisions?

Looks exactly as if the paras are right back in business.

Thank you for this translation.

Be back later.

Thanks, again.

[Bacchus39]

23. nope, its what Piedad Cordoba is claiming, the black eagles allegedly

sent a threatening email to members of the Polo party. the email text provided makes no mention of the car bombing.