Bomb Rocks Bogota
A car bomb exploded outside a major television studio in Colombia's capital on Wednesday — a day after another car bombing blamed on leftist guerrillas killed a soldier and five civilians in a southern city.
Bogota police said a red four-wheel drive vehicle packed with 30 kilograms of dynamite exploded before dawn on a residential street behind the studio where Caracol TV broadcasts its news programs. There were no injuries or deaths.
The blast shattered windows all along the block in midtown Bogota and damaged offices and equipment in the Caracol's two-story building. Police said the station, as well as other media outlets, have received threats.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which came amid an escalation in Colombia's violence despite recent breakthroughs in peace negotiations to end a 38-year civil war.
Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus blamed the bombing on the nation's main rebel army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
"This is an inflamed, crazed group that says: give me power or I will destroy the country," Mockus told reporters.
Metropolitan police chief Gen. Jorge Enrique Linares said it was too early to assign blame for the bombing.
"Colombians must close ranks around the police and the military. This is the only way to combat terrorism in Colombia," he said.
On Tuesday, a remote-controlled car bomb packed with 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of dynamite exploded in the southern city of Florencia as a convoy of army vehicles passed by in a residential neighborhood, killing five civilian passers-by and a soldier.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Capt. Lida Zambrano, an army spokeswoman based in Florencia, the capital of Caqueta state, called it "a terrorist attack by the FARC."
Plainclothes rebel militiamen roam the city, a three-hour drive from the FARC's main stronghold.
The FARC has waged dozens of bomb attacks in recent weeks after signing an agreement with President Andres Pastrana's government to seek a cease-fire agreement by April.
Police are also still investigating a bomb blast Jan. 25 in front of a restaurant in south Bogota which killed four police officers and a 5-year-old girl, and injured 26 other people. Suspected rebels also have bombed electrical energy lines, bridges and a water reservoir near the capital.
Analysts say the rebels may be trying to show force as a way to strengthen their hand in upcoming cease-fire negotiations, analysts say.
The military says it has been fighting back, destroying guerrilla camps with aerial bombardments and engaging in combat with the FARC.
The army reported Tuesday that at least seven soldiers died and 22 were unaccounted for in an explosion at a guerrilla munitions dump the army seized from the FARC in southern Meta state. There were two tons of explosives in the warehouse when the blast occurred, the military said. It was not immediately clear whether the explosion was an accident or set off by the guerillas.
Four FARC rebels were killed in fighting with troops before the explosion, the army reported.
By JARED KOTLER
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