Importance of the reason for the attack on Club El Nogal

It was one of the terrorist attacks perpetrated by the FARC (Armed forces Revolutionaries of Colombia) most shocking suffered by the capital of Bogotá, in Colombia, in February 2003, remembered very especially for his virulence and the victims he left as a balance: 36 dead and more than 200 wounded.

A politically ideal and very crowded target

It also became an emblematic case due to the decision of the Colombian justice that, in addition to pointing out the leaders of the FARC guerrilla as responsible for it, committed in said responsibility to those state representatives who looked the other way and did not give enough weight to a warning notice about the attack that had reached them.

El Nogal was a prestigious social club that brought together select members of Bogotá society and in which they met politicians, businessmen and paramilitary forces, and for this particular reason it was chosen as a target of the FARC.

When they confirmed that important state officials were meeting there to outline and implement policies against the guerrillas, they decided to demolish it.

On the other hand, its large influx of members also contributed to the election, since the provocation of great material and human damage was a guarantee.

And so it was, since the human victims added tremendous damage to the solid structure that was destroyed and It left a huge crater in it, after the explosion of the car bomb with explosives that detonated in the parking lot of the club.

The unthinkable was sentenced by justice: FARC and the Colombian state associated in one of the worst terrorist attacks in history

Although the courts found the aforementioned FARC responsible for the terrorist act, there was also a sentence for the state represented by: the defense and justice ministries, the intervening prosecutor's office, and the old service of intelligence, who did not take the necessary precautions when they learned of an existing alert due to the threat of a large-scale attack like the one that finally took place.

The investigation He confirmed that the club's squash instructor was the key contact for the FARC to enter the club, which for all that was said had very weak internal security.

According to the Colombian Council of State, the attack could have been prevented if the security forces, state officials, and intelligence services at that time would have acted with professionalism and the corresponding caution that the context and situation they demanded.

Within the framework of the peace process that began a few years ago in Colombia and the decision of the FARC to lay down its arms and accept the rules of democracy, its members and referents publicly apologized to the relatives and survivors and confirmed the suspicion that there was about the motivation of the attack.

A tragedy that is not forgotten and that continues unpunished

Beyond these belated judicial decisions, the survivors and the relatives of the victims continue to speak of impunity because there is no No one responsible is effectively imprisoned and today they only have an obligatory pardon from the former FARC authorities, to whom, a been also responsible for the event, has legitimized them to intervene in the current democratic game in Colombia as if nothing had happened. past…

There is an offer to tell the truth but those affected are still waiting for the fulfillment of the promise.

The club was rebuilt with a lot of effort and has become a monument that recalls the darkest and most tragic page of recent Colombian history.