BOGOTÁ — 1995 · Unsolved Case

The Assassination of Álvaro Gómez Hurtado

Under InvestigationSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, a Conservative leader, former presidential candidate and one of the architects of the 1991 Constitution, was shot dead by gunmen on 2 November 1995 as he left Bogotá's Sergio Arboleda University, where he taught; his bodyguard was also killed. The murder took place amid a crisis over allegations that the government of the day had been financed with drug money, and many hypotheses emerged. In 2017 it was declared a crime against humanity, removing the statute of limitations. In October 2020 former FARC leaders claimed responsibility in a letter to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP); the family rejected the claim. Thirty years later, there is still no final court ruling on who was responsible.

Date: 1995
Place: Cundinamarca, Colombia, Bogotá, CO
Category: Unsolved Case
Case Status: Under Investigation
Coordinates: 4.6600, -74.0550 ↗

Timeline of Events

2 November 1995Gómez Hurtado was killed leaving a university in Bogotá.
19 December 2017The murder was declared a crime against humanity.
3 October 2020Former FARC leaders claimed responsibility in a letter to the JEP.

2020The family rejected the FARC claim.
2025On the 30th anniversary the investigation remained unresolved.

Sources

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