They condemn the nation for the death of councilman soachuno who was injured in the attack on Luis Carlos Galán

This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of then-presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento in the central square of Soacha; in this event that marked the inhabitants of the municipality located south of Bogotá and throughout the country, Santiago Cuervo Jiménez, the candidate's escort, and Julio César Peñaloza Sánchez, a councillor of Soacha who served as master of ceremonies at the event together with the liberal politician.

In recent hours, the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca issued a statement in which it condemned the Nation, the Ministry of Defence and the Police for the death of the councillor. It should be recalled that on 18 August 1989, in the midst of the attack on the candidate, Peñaloza was seriously injured, but died until 23 August as a result of these injuries.

According to the Court, the Nation, the Ministry of Defense and the Police would be responsible for the non-contractual responsibility in the death of the man who at that time was also a candidate for the Council for the New Liberalism. After 33 years, Peñaloza's family could receive reparation from the State in the face of the politician's death.

The Court's decision comes after stating that on the day of the attack, there were failures in the service of the extinct DAS, since it was evident that there was a change of escorts for those who were not suitable, which would have made it easier for the attack to be committed. In addition, they pointed out that it is clear that Julio César Peñaloza was not a stranger to the event of candidate Luis Carlos Galán, since he was in his campaign for the Council, which was directly related to the political party of which Galán was leader.

In addition, they added that the lack of DAS was much more serious considering that in that year the possibility of “attacks against civilians, political leaders, members of the National Police, judges, magistrates, ministers, former ministers” and, in general, anything that was a problem for the big drug traffickers in the country.

They recalled that, considering that it is clear that there was a “failure in the service” of the DAS and the “responsibility of the state” for the damages resulting from this act, the Supreme Court of Justice declared the attack a crime against humanity, since the attack was against civilians in the middle of a public square.

The Court concluded that the responsibility of the Nation, the Police and the Ministry of Defense with the councilman's death also has to do with the fact that, at that time, the threats of drug trafficking were not only directed at the presidential candidate. “Not only were there direct threats against Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, but, in general, against the members of the New Liberalism. It was the DAS who was obliged to provide protection to this person (Galán) and it was hoped that the assigned surveillance personnel and escorts would be sufficient and suitable, but, on the contrary, the political leader was subjected to a lack of protection that facilitated the commission of the attack against him.”

Peñaloza was a recognized leader in the municipality of Soacha, especially since he played a leading role in the construction of dance and football schools. With this conviction of the Court of Cundinamarca, the State would have to pay the councilor's wife and two daughters compensation of up to 300 statutory minimum wages in force, for each one, due to damages, which were aggravated because the two parents of this politician were minors at the time of the events.

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