1998 in Colombia

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See also:	Other events of 1998 Timeline of Colombian history

Events of 1998 in Colombia .

Incumbents

• President:
  • Ernesto Samper (1994–7 August 1998).
  • Andrés Pastrana Arango (7 August 1998 – 2002).
• Vice President:
  • Carlos Lemos Simmonds (1997–7 August 1998).
  • Gustavo Bell (7 August 1998 – 2002).

Events

January

• 11–12 January – Hundreds of non-inmates, mostly visitors, are inside San Isidro prison in Popayan, Cauca during a prison protest over living conditions, including overcrowding. Many are relatives and loved ones of inmates voluntarily staying as a part of the protest, but others have been taken hostage. On the 11th, 18 of those taken hostage are released. ^[1]

February

• 4 February – Amnesty International announces the closure of its Bogotá office after recent threats.
• 25 February – Víctor Carranza, known as the “emerald czar” is arrested. ^[2]
• 27 February – The director of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Antioquia (Spanish : Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de Antioquia) Jesús María Valle Jaramillo is shot and killed in his office in Medellín. ^[3]

March

• 8 March – The 1998 parliamentary election are held. The Liberal Party wins a majority in the Chamber, 84 of the 161 seats, and a plurality in the Senate, 48 of the 102 seats.

April

• 28 April – Men claiming to be members of the Peasant Self-Defense Group of Córdoba and Urabá (ACCU) kidnap 6 previously displaced men in Bello, Antioquia, killing at least 4 (the other 2 being 'disappeared'). ^[2]

May

1998 presidential election second round results by Department

  Won by Horacio Serpa

  Won by Andres Pastrana

• 16 May – Barrancabermeja massacre. ^[4]
• 19 May – The Twentieth Brigade of the Colombian army is suspended, pending reorganization. This was after the government publicly connected them to the 1995 murder of Álvaro Gómez Hurtado. ^[2]

• 31 May – The 1998 presidential election is held; Horacio Serpa of the Liberal Party wins the plurality (34.78%) over the Great Alliance for Change's Andrés Pastrana Arango, but, since no one candidate earns a majority, it goes to a second round.

June

• 21 June – The second round of the 1998 presidential election is held; Andrés Pastrana Arango of the Great Alliance for Change wins with a 50.34% majority over the Liberal Party's Horacio Serpa.
• 26 June – The Colombia national football team plays England during the group stage (G) of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in Lens, France. England beats Colombia 2 to 0, which knocks Colombia out of the running. ^[5]

July

• 10 July – Caracol Televisión and RCN Televisión are both launched as television networks.

August

• 7 August – Andrés Pastrana Arango is inaugurated as the 30th president of Colombia.

September

• 15 September – Liberal Party congressman Jorge Humberto González Noreña is assassinated. ^[6]

October

• 18 October – Machuca Massacre.

November

• 3–5 November – Siege of Mitú.

December

• December – Air Force pilots drop cluster bombs on Santo Domingo, Norte de Santander, killing 17, including 5 children, and wounding 30. ^[7]
• 8 December – Villanueva Massacre.
• 13 December – Santo Domingo massacre. ^{[8] [9]}

Births

Anthony Zambrano in 2019

• January 17 – Anthony Zambrano, sprinter. ^[10]

Deaths

• 14 February – Manuel Pérez, National Liberation Army (ELN) leader (b. 1943).
• 27 February – Jesús María Valle Jaramillo, human rights advocate.
• 15 September – Jorge Humberto González Noreña, politician and then congressmen.
• 28 September – Julio de la Ossa, vallenato accordionist (b. 1936) ^[11]

References

1. "Hundreds held hostage in Colombia prison". CNN . 12 January 1998. Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
2. "HRW World Report 1999: Colombia: Human Rights Developments". Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1999. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
3. "Colombia:Human rights defenders under increasing attack: Human rights defenders network update". Refworld. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
4. "Masacre de Barrancabermeja, mayo de 1998 - Rutas del Conflicto". rutasdelconflicto.com (in Spanish). 2 October 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
5. Gill, Stephen (2018-05-16). "Colombia's 1998 World Cup". Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
6. "Asesinado Presidente de Comisión VII de la Cámara" [Chairman of Committee VII of the House Assassinated]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 15 September 1998. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
7. "1998 Bombing Cited as U.S. Decertifies Unit In Colombia" . The New York Times. From Reuters. 15 January 2003. Section A, Page 7. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
8. "Masacre de Santo Domingo". Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz de Colombia (in Spanish). 13 December 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
9. "Masacre de Santo Domingo, Arauca". Rutas del Conflicto (in Spanish). 2 October 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
10. "Anthony José ZAMBRANO". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
11. "Se fue Julito de la Ossa", El Tiempo (in Spanish), 1998-09-29, retrieved 2025-04-23

External links

• Media related to 1998 in Colombia at Wikimedia Commons
• Human Rights Watch World Report 1999: Colombia
• U.S. Department of State: Colombia Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998