2004 in Colombia

Incumbents

• President: Álvaro Uribe Vélez.
• Vice President: Francisco Santos Calderón.

  Events

January

• 2 January – Senior Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia member Simón Trinidad is captured in Quito, Ecuador.

  February

• 21 February – The 2004 Barranquilla Carnival begins.

  March

• 4 March – President Uribe is in Doral, Florida, U.S.A speaking at U.S. Southern Command.

  April

• 16 April – Carlos Castaño Gil, co-founder of the Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá and leader in the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, is killed under uncertain circumstances.

  May

• 5 May – Senior FARC member Simón Trinidad is sentenced to 35 years in prison for kidnapping and rebellion in Valledupar.

  June

• 6 June – The Colombia national football team plays Uruguay's in Barranquilla in a FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL qualification game. Colombia wins 5–0.

  July

• The AUC and Colombian Government begin peace talks; AUC leaders address Congress.

  August

• 5 August – U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld receives a memo about recent reporting from the New York Times, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times on a declassified 1991 memo linking President Uribe to paramilitaries, drug trafficking, and Pablo Escobar.
• 5 August – Colombian soldiers assassinate union leaders Jorge Eduardo Prieto, Leonel Goyeneche, and Hector Alirio Martinez in Saravena, Arauca. The army initially claims that the victims were Marxist rebels killed in a battle.

  September

• 6 September – The Attorney General's Office of Colombia admits that Colombian soldiers assassinated three union leaders on August 5 in Saravena. It orders the arrest of two soldiers, a civilian, and an army officer for the deaths of Jorge Eduardo Prieto, Leonel Goyeneche, and Hector Alirio Martinez.

  November

• 12 November – Miss Colombia 2004 is held in Cartagena de Indias. Miss Atlántico Adriana Tarud is crowned the winner.
• 15 November – At 4:06 local time, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits near Bajo Baudó, Chocó. There are no reported fatalities.

  December

• 13 December – Rodrigo Granda affair: Foreign Minister of the FARC Rodrigo Granda is captured by Venezuelan Officials in Caracas, Venezuela and transferred to Cúcuta, Colombia.

  Births

• November – Loraine Lara, vallenato accordionist.

  Deaths

• 2 January – Hernando Caro Mendoza, music critic, journalist, and teacher.
• 11 February – Albeiro Usuriaga, footballer.
• 15 March – Amparo Arrebato, dancer.
• 1 April – Enrique Grau, painter and sculptor.
• 16 April – Carlos Castaño Gil, AUC leader.
• 26 April – Hernando Valencia Goelkel, critic and essayist.
• 27 April – María Teresa Benavídez Díaz, catholic nun.
• 19 May – Manuel J. Bernal, pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and orchestra director.
• 4 June – Tirso Vélez, poet, teacher, and politician.
• 27 July – Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Alandete, politician and lawyer.