The Dominican embassy siege was the 1980 siege of the embassy of the Dominican Republic by M-19 guerrillas in Bogotá, Colombia. The guerrillas held nearly 60 people, including 14 ambassadors, hostage for 61 days. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ... The 19th of April Movement, (Movimiento 19 de Abril) or (M-19) was a Colombian guerrilla that traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of April 19, 1970. ... Bogota (Spanish: Bogotá) officially named Bogotá D.C. (), is the capital of Colombia, as well as the largest and most populous city in the country with a population of roughly 7. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... A hostage is a person (sometimes another entity) which is held by a captor in order to compel another party to act, or refrain from acting, in a particular way. ...

The Siege

The siege began on the night of February 27, 1980, when seventeen guerrillas dressed in the warm-up clothes of joggers stormed the embassy compound, located in a suburb of Bogotá. Many diplomats were attending a diplomatic reception celebrating the Dominican Independence Day and consequently were taken hostage. The guerrillas, wielding grenades and automatic rifles, wounded five people in the storming of the embassy. A 17-year-old guerrilla was killed initially by police. February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Man Running - Edward Muybridge Horse Running - Edward Muybridge Running is by definition the fastest means for an animal to move on foot. ... An Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nations assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another state. ...

The hostages included the papal nuncio to Colombia, Angelo Acerbi, as well as the ambassadors from fourteen countries: Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Also among the hostages were diplomats from Bolivia, Jamaica, Paraguay, and Peru, and Colombian civilians and workers at the embassy. A Papal Nuncio (also known as an Apostolic Nuncio) is a permanent diplomatic representative (head of mission) of the Holy See to a state, having ambassadorial rank. ...

The gunmen demanded $50 million, to be raised from the countries whose diplomats were held hostage. They also sought the release of 311 jailed comrades. Their leader icalled himself "Commandante Uno;" he was later identified as Rosemberg Pabón. Rosemberg Pabón (born c. ...

Colombian authorities began negotiating with the guerrillas after they threatened to kill the hostages. On February 28, eighteen people, including the Costa Rican ambassador and fourteen other women, were freed by the hostage takers. Five more women were released on February 29. Negotiations gained the release of four cooks and a waiter on March 2. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ...

The Austrian ambassador was freed on March 7. On March 8, the guerrillas reduced their demands to free 311 prisoners to seventy and lowered the amount of money requested to $10 million. Early on March 17, the Uruguayan ambassador, Fernando Gomez, escaped from the embassy by jumping from a window and running to troops surrounding the compound. The same day, Fidel Castro offered the guerrillas asylum in Cuba. March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in Leap years). ... March 8 poster from Portugal March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... Fidel Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) has been the leader of Cuba since 1959, when, leading the 26th of July Movement, he overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista. ... The term asylum can mean: a psychiatric hospital political asylum a 1985 album named Asylum by KISS a sociology book by Erving Goffman studying total institutions A band from Preston, http://www. ...

From March 30 to April 19, the guerrillas released the Costa Rican consul and all of the remaining non-diplomatic hostages. They requested a meeting in Panama with Colombian leaders to resolve the crisis, but were denied by the Colombian government. Their demand for the release of a dozen prisoners was denied, though they were paid $2.5 million in ransom money. March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in Leap years). ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... The term ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property extorted to secure their release, or to the sum of money involved. ...

On April 27, the ambassadors from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel, and Egypt were released by the hostage takers, along with two Colombians. The sixteen guerrillas left the embassy with the remaining twelve diplomatic hostages and boarded a Cubana Airlines flight to Cuba. They were cheered by many Colombians waiting for them at the airport. They flew to Havana, where the diplomats were released and returned to their home countries. April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... Cubana de Aviacion Yakovlev Yak-42, registration CU-T 1243, at Cancun International Airport, Mexico, on October 12th 2003 Cubana de Aviación is Cubas domestic and international airline. ... Havana (Spanish in full: San Cristóbal de La Habana; UN/LOCODE: Habana (CU HAV)) is the capital of Cuba and, with a population of 2. ...

Aftermath

The leader of the M-19 group, Rosemberg Pabón, promised to return to Colombia. After living in exile in Cuba, he eventually returned to Colombia after M-19 signed a peace treaty with the government in March 1990. The M-19 group had been considerably weakened after seizing the Colombian Palace of Justice in November 1985, which left dozens dead. Look up March in Wiktionary, the free dictionary March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... This article is about the year. ... The Palace of Justice siege was a 1985 attack against the Supreme Court of Colombia, in which members of the M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia, and held the Supreme Court hostage, intending to hold a trial against Colombian President Belisario Betancur. ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the year. ...

The siege of the Dominican Embassy was the largest hostage-taking of diplomats in world history.