The year was 1995. Hostile attacks on the national government and the Colombian political system by subversive forces were part of the history of the moment. One morning in November of that same year, one of the most influential men in Colombia was assassinated. Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, a member of the Conservative party, professor, and politician with extensive experience, was one of the staunchest opponents of the incumbent president, Ernesto Samper Pizano. His assassination was labeled a crime of state by many, and President Samper, along with his then-Minister of the Interior, Horacio Serpa, were directly investigated.
But history changes, and Colombia has been characterized as a country with a dynamic history, as tragic as it is implausible. 25 years have passed since that morning outside the Sergio Arboleda University, when a new file was opened by the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation and a broad investigation into what happened began, until a few days ago the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), now a political party, confessed their responsibility for the assassination of Álvaro Gómez before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).
Given this, after more than two decades of conspiracy theories and judicial investigations that led nowhere, the FARC recognize their authorship in the assassination. For years, hypotheses have swirled among a homicide by ex-narcotics traffickers, a murder committed by military personnel in retaliation because Gómez Hurtado did not cooperate with a supposed coup against Samper, and a crime of state orchestrated by the government of the then President of the Republic. Nothing ever pointed to the FARC.
Together, Ernesto Samper and Horacio Serpa declared themselves surprised by the FARC's confessions. Through a letter signed by both, they stated that “in recent years we have been victims of insults and slander from the families of Álvaro Gómez, driven by petty economic interests. Likewise, according to this revelation, we have also been victims of the FARC's silence regarding their responsibility in this homicide. This circumstance does not prevent us, however, from understanding the importance this recognition may have in the purpose of building a new narrative of peace, through the transitional justice system, led by magistrate Patricia Linares, in the JEP, and Father Francisco de Roux, in the Truth Commission.”.
According to La Silla Vacía, the FARC's acknowledgment of responsibility “is the first concrete sign of the avalanche of truth that the ex-guerrillas have announced. It is a step that gives legitimacy to the JEP and is further proof, not only of the power the FARC came to wield but also of the importance of the Peace Agreement that led to their demobilization.”.
Through a Press release, the now political party not only acknowledged the responsibility of the FARC-EP in the homicide of Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, but also of Jesús Antonio Bejarano, Fernando Landazábal Reyes, and Pablo Emilio Guarín, as well as Hernando Pizarro Leongomez and José Fedor Rey. “In this way, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to peace in Colombia, to the victims and their families… We recognize that it was a mistake to have murdered a politician of the stature of Álvaro Gómez Hurtado. We have read their biographies and today we know that his contribution to the country's peace would have been fundamental. But war clouds one's vision of the future and only allows one to see reality in black and white, dividing it into friends and enemies.”.
According to statements made to the newspaper El Tiempo by a member of the subversive group, Marulanda's analysis for assassinating Gómez Hurtado was to “take advantage of a tactical situation to turn it into a strategic event: he made the oligarchy argue and fall into contradictions to bring out the infighting within the very heart of power. Marulanda knew how to read the moment and, without intending to, the FARC destabilized what existed after the National Front with all its hatreds and political pettiness.”.