apr 11, 2002 - Kidnapping of Valle del Cauca Legislators

Description:

In an attempt to release high ranking members being held in Colombian prisons, FARC orchestrated the kidnapping of 12 high ranking deputies in the western Valle del Cauca province. The kidnapping took place on April 11th 2002, and involved an elite FARC unit disguising themselves as Colombian army and security forces in order to enter a provincial assembly in Cali. The disguised guerrilleros, warning people of a bomb threat in the assembly, ordered the twelve deputies out of the building and onto a bus parked outside, while the remaining disguised FARC units remained in the assembly to fight against the Colombian police, who had been alerted of the incident, leading to one police officer being stabbed and killed by FARC. The hostages would remain in the hands of FARC until 2007, when in a proof of life video, it was confirmed that eleven of the twelve kidnapped legislators had died, prompting the Colombian government to accuse FARC of executing the hostages, an accusation that was vehemently denied, with FARC instead claiming that they had been killed in crossfire with an “unidentified military group”, a narrative that was seemingly confirmed by the only surviving hostage, Sigifredo Lopez, who was released in 2009.

Added to timeline:

Date: