These are some of the clues that the authorities have about the CAI attack in Ciudad Bolivar

On March 26, an attack occurred in the CAI of Arborizadora Alta, in the town of Ciudad Bolívar. The dramatic act that was executed by FARC dissidents left 35 people injured and a 12-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl died. The explosion also left at least 20 houses affected, whose windows were broken by the force of the explosive wave, as well as six injured pets.

The event has set a precedent and an important warning in the capital of Colombia, since it reveals that even urban areas are not exempt from the violence of the criminal groups that have consolidated in the country. The investigations have indicated that the terrorist act was financed and planned in Venezuela, and that Javier Alonso Velosa García, alias John Mechas, criminal leader of one of the dissidents of the extinct FARC guerrilla, is attributed to the same armed group that carried out the attack against President Iván Duque and against Cucuta Airport (Norte de Santander).

However, this would only be the tip of the iceberg, because according to El Tiempo, this is one more clue to a high-impact terrorist event that could occur in Bogotá and this fact would only be one of the steps taken by criminals to strike a coup in the capital before the winner of the 2022 presidential elections is defined.

But this would not be new, since weeks earlier tons of explosives that would be used for terrorist attacks such as the explosion in the town of Ciudad Bolivar would have been seized in a house and on the roads in Bogotá. In addition to this, the Office of the Ombudsman clarified that it had already issued five alerts related to this situation that puts the city's security at risk.

The Colombian media interviewed Juan Sebastián Jiménez, a sociologist and political scientist expert in security at the Universidad Nacional, who assured that all these events may be related to a conflict over the domination of the locality, which could be a fundamental route for drug trafficking routes.

“A conflict is being generated over the control of a specific belt of the city that covers Ciudad Bolivar and Usme, and that involves the possibility of key transit for the illegal economy (arms and drugs) through the corridor that connects Sumapaz and Sibaté,” the expert said.

For his part, Luis Felipe Vega, an expert in security and geopolitics at the University of Leipzig, Germany added that the situation is more complex than it seems and that progress must be made not only in the search for a leader, but also in the way of dealing with an armed group that wants to bring armed conflict to the cities.

“The particular thing about the growing threat in Bogotá is that the 'Monkey Jojoy' premise of bringing war to cities is being fulfilled,” said Luis Felipe Vega, adding that the authorities “must have intelligence on the seriousness of the matter. This isn't about going after a man who planted a bomb, it's an armed group that wants to show its strength in Bogotá.”

For now, the authorities are working hand in hand with different institutions to advance the investigation: “We have agreed all the support of the Attorney General's Office, so that we can carry out all the investigation and prosecution expressly, and that we can also act against 36 criminal structures in the city of Bogotá, which may be involved in acts of criminal outsourcing or what are permanent threats to citizens,” said General Jorge Luis Vargas, the director of the Colombian National Police.

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