2003 in Colombia

Decades:	1980s; 1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s;
See also:	Other events of 2003; Timeline of Colombian history;

Events from the year 2003 in Colombia.

Incumbents

President: Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002 – 2010).^[1]^[2]
Vice President: Francisco Santos Calderón (2002 – 2010).^[3]^[4]

Events

January

15 January – President Uribe requests military assistance from the U.S. similar to that of the Iraq War.^[5]

February

6 February – Social Protection Minister Juan Luis Londoño and 4 others die in a small plane crash near Tolima.
7 February – 2003 El Nogal Club bombing: A car bomb on the third floor of El Nogal Club in Bogotá filled with 200 kg of explosives is detonated, killing 36 and injuring more than 200.^[6]
13 February – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1465 is unanimously adopted, condemning the EL Nogal Club bombing.^[7]
14 February – 2003 Neiva bombing: A car bomb explodes near the Benito Salas Airport, killing 16 and injuring dozens more.^[8]
14 February – Two CIA operatives are captured by the FARC.^[9]

March

5 March – 7 people are killed in Cucuta when a car bomb explodes.^[10]
18 March – The football club Bogotá F.C. is founded.^[11]

April

6 April – Radio journalist José Emeterio Rivas is murdered in Barrancabermeja after publicly accusing the local politicians of corruption, his body is found alongside that of Paolo César Montesinos, a student.^[12]
10 April – Mayor of El Roble Eudaldo Diaz's body is found beaten, tortured, and executed two months after he pleaded with President Uribe during a televised community meeting to save him from assassination. This came after he had accused Uribe's ally Salvador Arana and other politicians of paramilitary connections and corruption.^[13]^[14]
30 April – President Álvaro Uribe meets with U.S. President George W. Bush and press in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C..^[15]

May

5 May – Guillermo Gaviria Correa, Governor of Antioquia, Gilberto Echeverri Mejía, Minister of Defense, and 8 soldiers who were kidnapped by the FARC's 34th Front are killed during a failed Army rescue operation in Urrao.

June

27 June – The 14th Andean Presidential Council is held in Rionegro, Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia at Recinto de Quirama. The presidents of Bolivia (Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada), Colombia (Álvaro Uribe), Ecuador (Lucio Gutiérrez), and Venezuela (Hugo Chávez) as well as the vice president of Perú (Raúl Diez Canseco) attend.^[16]

July

8 July – Opération 14 juillet
15 July – The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) agrees to disband.^[17]
18 July – Manuel Octavio Bermúdez is arrested after the murder of Luis Carlos Gálvez.^[18]

August

30 August – The FARC releases a second proof of life to the family of kidnapped French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

September

15 September – The National Liberation Army (ELN) kidnaps 8 tourists from Ciudad Perdida.^[19]

October

25 October – 2003 Colombian constitutional referendum
26 October – The 2003 Fusagasugá City Council elections takes place, electing 17 council seats.

November-December

12 November – Miss Colombia 2003 takes place in Cartagena de Indias.
15 November – 2003 Zona Rosa attacks: Grenades are thrown into two bars in the Zona Rosa neighborhood in Bogotá, killing 1 and injuring 73.^[20]

Uncertain

Democratic Colombia Party is founded.

Births

Deaths

3 February – Fulgencio Berdugo, football player (b. 1918).
6 April – José Emeterio Rivas, radio journalist (b.1957/8).^[12]
25 April – Jaime Silva Gómez, football player (b. 1935).
30 July – Carlos Lemos Simmonds, politician, former vice president (1996–1998) (b. 1933).
21 October – Juan Harvey Caicedo, actor and radio personality (b.1937).
12 November – Jesús Manuel Estrada, Vallenato singer (b. 1963).
15 November – Alejandro Durán, accordion player, composer, and Vallenato singer (b. 1919).

References

^ East, Roger; Thomas, Richard J. (3 June 2014). Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-317-63940-4.
^ "How President Alvaro Uribe changed Colombia". BBC News. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ Publications, Europa (2002). South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2003. Taylor & Francis. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-85743-138-4.
^ Kline, Harvey F. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Colombia. Scarecrow Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8108-7813-6.
^ "Uribe pide a E.U un despliegue militar en Colombia "similar" al de Irak" [Uribe asks U.S. for military deployment "similar" to Iraq]. Agencia de Noticias e Información Alternaiva(ANIA), URCM (in Spanish). 21 January 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "At least 32 killed in Colombia club blast". CNN. 8 February 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Security Council condemns 7 February bomb attack in Bogotá, says act of terrorism threatens peace, security". United Nations. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Explosion in Southern Colombia Kills 16". Fox News. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
^ McDermott, Jeremy (2003-02-15). "CIA agents killed or captured in Colombia". Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
^ "CNN.com - At least 6 die in Colombia blast". CNN. 5 March 2003. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "BOGOTÁ FC". Dimayor. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b Cardona, Libardo (22 January 2009). "Stiff sentence in Colombian journalist's murder". 20 August 2024. Associated Press.
^ Ayala Osorio, Germán (18 March 2023). "¿A Eudaldo Díaz lo asesinaron los paramilitares o un 'sarraceno' del siglo XXI?" [Was Eudaldo Díaz murdered by paramilitaries or by a 21st century 'Saracen'?]. La Orejaroja (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
^ Kraul, Chris (6 February 2009). "Deaths cloud Colombian ex-governor's trial". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
^ "Remarks by President Bush and President Uribe of Colombia in Photo Opportunity". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "XIV Consejo Presidencial Andino / Declaración de Quirama". Sistema de Información sobre Comercio Exterior, OAS. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ Dwan, Renata; Gustavsson, Micaela (2004). "Major armed conflicts". SIPRI Yearbook 2004: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. pp. 95–131. ISBN 978-0-19-926570-1. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
^ Rodríguez-Torres, María Natalia (2019). "Manuel Octavio Bermúdez "el monstruo de los cañaduzales"". Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad Católica de Colombia. Facultad de Derecho. hdl:hdl.handle.net/10983/23196. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Ciudad Perpida Kidnappings and Modern History". La Ciudad Perpida. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ Dongen, Rachel Van (17 November 2003). "Grenades Hit Two Bars in Bogota". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[1] East, Roger; Thomas, Richard J. (3 June 2014). Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-317-63940-4.

[2] "How President Alvaro Uribe changed Colombia". BBC News. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[Europa-3] Publications, Europa (2002). South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2003. Taylor & Francis. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-85743-138-4.

[4] Kline, Harvey F. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Colombia. Scarecrow Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8108-7813-6.

[5] "Uribe pide a E.U un despliegue militar en Colombia "similar" al de Irak" [Uribe asks U.S. for military deployment "similar" to Iraq]. Agencia de Noticias e Información Alternaiva(ANIA), URCM (in Spanish). 21 January 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[Blast-6] "At least 32 killed in Colombia club blast". CNN. 8 February 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[un-7] "Security Council condemns 7 February bomb attack in Bogotá, says act of terrorism threatens peace, security". United Nations. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[8] "Explosion in Southern Colombia Kills 16". Fox News. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-14.

[9] McDermott, Jeremy (2003-02-15). "CIA agents killed or captured in Colombia". Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-07-14.

[10] "CNN.com - At least 6 die in Colombia blast". CNN. 5 March 2003. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[11] "BOGOTÁ FC". Dimayor. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[sandiegouniontribune-12] Cardona, Libardo (22 January 2009). "Stiff sentence in Colombian journalist's murder". 20 August 2024. Associated Press.

[13] Ayala Osorio, Germán (18 March 2023). "¿A Eudaldo Díaz lo asesinaron los paramilitares o un 'sarraceno' del siglo XXI?" [Was Eudaldo Díaz murdered by paramilitaries or by a 21st century 'Saracen'?]. La Orejaroja (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2024.

[14] Kraul, Chris (6 February 2009). "Deaths cloud Colombian ex-governor's trial". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.

[15] "Remarks by President Bush and President Uribe of Colombia in Photo Opportunity". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[16] "XIV Consejo Presidencial Andino / Declaración de Quirama". Sistema de Información sobre Comercio Exterior, OAS. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[:3-17] Dwan, Renata; Gustavsson, Micaela (2004). "Major armed conflicts". SIPRI Yearbook 2004: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. pp. 95–131. ISBN 978-0-19-926570-1. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.

[18] Rodríguez-Torres, María Natalia (2019). "Manuel Octavio Bermúdez "el monstruo de los cañaduzales"". Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad Católica de Colombia. Facultad de Derecho. hdl:hdl.handle.net/10983/23196. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[19] "Ciudad Perpida Kidnappings and Modern History". La Ciudad Perpida. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[20] Dongen, Rachel Van (17 November 2003). "Grenades Hit Two Bars in Bogota". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

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v t e Years in Colombia (since 1810)
19th century	1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1848 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
20th century	1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

v t e 2003 in South America
Sovereign states	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands