Editing 19th of April Movement (section)

==Armed activity==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2023}}
The M-19's history may be divided into two parts: the first was a failed armed revolutionary struggle during the early to mid-1980s, while the second was a relatively constructive reincorporation into civil society and political life during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

=== Theft of Bolívar's sword ===
Among the actions performed by the M-19, some significant events stand out.  In a highly symbolic action, the M-19 stole [[Simón_Bolívar#Sword_of_Bolivar|one of the swords of Simon Bolivar]] from a museum in 1974, an event which was used by the group to symbolize what they called a civilian uprising against a regime perceived as unjust. M-19 promised to return the sword by 18 December 1990, the 160th anniversary of Bolivar's death. But the organization was unable to keep its pledge and was forced to admit it was no longer in possession of the sword. However, in 1991, M-19 would eventually return the sword.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Farah |first=Douglas |date=1 February 1991 |title=Secret Of Bolivar's Sword |work=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/02/01/secret-of-bolivars-sword/fd23f9c2-b423-4e49-8e81-ce77b13025d8/ |access-date=19 January 2023}}</ref>

=== Kidnapping and murder of José Raquel Mercado ===
On 15 February 1976, the M-19 kidnapped the union leader Jose Raquel Mercado, who was the president of Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC), charged him with selling out the interests of Colombian workers to U.S. imperialism, and sentenced him to death. The group accused Mercado of taking bribes and collaborating with the [[CIA|Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The FARC-Colombian Peace Deal: No Better Option - Foreign Policy Research Institute |url=https://www.fpri.org/article/2016/09/farc-colombian-peace-deal-no-better-option/ |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=www.fpri.org |language=en-US}}</ref>   The M-19 had offered to "commute" the labor leader's death sentence if the government reinstated thousands of fired workers, gave public employees the right to strike and published a communique in 12 Colombian newspapers.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=1976 |title=Labor Leader Found Slain In Colombia |work= The Miami Herald}}</ref> Mercado's body was wrapped in plastic, and propped up against a lamppost in a Bogota park.

=== Theft of arms from the north canton ===
On New Year's Eve 1979, the group dug a tunnel into a Colombian Army weapons depot, taking over 5000 weapons. It was considered one of the first signs of the group's true potential for armed action.

===Dominican Republic embassy siege===
{{main|1980 Dominican Republic Embassy siege in Bogotá}}

The group is also recognized for other high-profile activities, such as the [[Dominican embassy siege]]. The guerrillas stormed the [[Dominican Republic]]'s embassy during a cocktail party on 27 February 1980. They took the largest recorded number of diplomats held hostage to date in Colombia, which accounted for 14 ambassadors, including the United States'. Eventually, after tense negotiations with the government of [[Julio César Turbay Ayala]], the hostages were peacefully released and the hostage takers were allowed to leave the country for exile in Cuba. Some of them later returned and actively rejoined the M-19's activities. Many contemporary rumors and later accounts from the participants in this event have suggested that the Colombian government might have submitted to another of the M-19 demands, by allegedly giving the group 1 to 2.5 million U.S. dollars in exchange for the release of the hostages.

=== Kidnapping and Murder of Chester "Chet" Bitterman ===
{{Main article|Chet Bitterman}}
In 1979, Chester "Chet" Bitterman traveled with his wife to Columbia to begin mission work with Wycliffe with the [[Summer Institute of Linguistics]] (SIL), an organization dedicated to documenting lesser known-languages in order to create translations of the [[Christian Bible]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chet Bitterman - Today's Christian |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2002/002/11.11.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414035222/http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2002/002/11.11.html |archive-date=2006-04-14 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=www.christianitytoday.com}}</ref> On January 19, 1981, Bitterman was taken hostage by M-19.<ref>Bachrach, Judy (June 3, 1981). [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00806R000201050010-2.pdf "Troubled Translators"] (PDF). ''The Washington Star''.</ref><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP99-00498R000200020098-4.pdf "THE NEW MISSIONARIES/Part 2"] (PDF). ''Philadelphia Bulletin''. May 4, 1981.</ref>

M-19 accused SIL of working with the CIA to destroy indigenous cultures, violate Colombian sovereignty and loot the country's resources and demanded SIL withdraw all 209 of its people from Colombia, otherwise they would kill Bitterman.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Chandler |first=Russell |date=1981-07-25 |title=Bible Translators: The Word for the World |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/07/25/bible-translators-the-word-for-the-world/8bfdfe9e-cbab-4f01-8533-b6e307fca95e/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20170827161604/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/07/25/bible-translators-the-word-for-the-world/8bfdfe9e-cbab-4f01-8533-b6e307fca95e/?utm_term=.d5dd635e46fe |archive-date=2017-08-27 |access-date=2025-05-31 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> After 48 later of SIL refusing to yield to the demands, Bitterman was found murdered.<ref name=":1" />

=== First peace talks ===
During the government of [[Belisario Betancur]] (1982–1986), [[Jaime Bateman Cayón]], by then top leader of the M-19, proposed a meeting in Panama with the Colombian government toward solving the conflict. But Bateman died on 28 April 1983 in an airplane accident, apparently while on the way to Panama, and the negotiations were suspended.

The negotiations culminated with the Agreements of [[Corinto, Cauca]]. A ceasefire was agreed, as well as the continuation of dialogue for the future demobilization of the guerrilla detachment. Nevertheless, sectors of the army opposed to the agreements of [[History of FARC#La Uribe Agreement and Union Patriótica|La Uribe]] and Corinto were responsible for attacks against the life of main leaders [[Iván Marino Ospina]], [[Antonio Navarro Wolff]], [[Carlos Pizarro]], Marcos Chalita, etc.

===Palace of Justice siege===
{{main|Palace of Justice siege}}

The M-19 initiated the events leading to the [[Palace of Justice siege]]. In this attack, on 6 November 1985, some 300 lawyers, judges, and Supreme Court magistrates were taken hostage by 35 armed rebel commandos at the Palace of Justice, the building that houses the [[Supreme Court of Colombia]]. They demanded that president [[Belisario Betancur]] be tried by the magistrates for allegedly betraying the country's desire for peace. When this situation became publicly known, the Colombian Army surrounded the Palace of Justice's perimeter with soldiers and [[EE-9 Cascavel]] armored reconnaissance vehicles. Initially, the military attempted to negotiate with the hostage takers, but these efforts was ultimately unsuccessful, despite the desperate pleas of some of the more prominent hostages. {{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} 

The Betancur administration and its council found themselves in a difficult position. They were not willing to submit to the rebels' demands, as they allegedly believed that this would set a worrying precedent and considerably jeopardize the government's position. Eventually, after tense discussions, it was decided during an emergency meeting that the military would be allowed to handle the situation and attempt to recover the Palace by force.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} 

During the military assault, Supreme Court President Alfonso Reyes Echandia, was able to contact a Bogota radio station via telephone, during which he begged the authorities to agree to "a ceasefire and dialogue with the rebels." President Belisario Betancur refused to call off the siege. <ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=6 November 2015 |title=Colombia president apologises for military actions in 1985 law courts assault |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-colombia-palaceofjustice-idUKKCN0SV2OC20151106 |work=Reuters |location=London |access-date=21 April 2023}}</ref> The building caught fire and ultimately more than 100 people died (including 11 of the country's 21 Supreme Court Justices),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/31/colombia-bogota-mayor-bans-guns|title=Colombia guerrilla-turned-mayor bans guns from the streets of Bogotá|last=Brodzinsky|first=Sibylla|date=31 January 2012|work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=1 February 2012}}</ref> and valuable legal records were destroyed.

The M-19 lost several of its top commanders during the event. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights said in a 2014 ruling the Colombian state was responsible for forced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions during the crisis. In 2015, President Juan Manuel Santos apologized for the Colombian military's role in the deaths of civilian victims killed during its assault. <ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=6 November 2015 |title=Colombia president apologises for military actions in 1985 law courts assault |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-colombia-palaceofjustice-idUKKCN0SV2OC20151106 |work=Reuters |location=London |access-date=21 April 2023}}</ref>

Citing the court decision, Santos added that he also apologised for violating the right to personal safety of those who were inside the Palace of Justice.

A Special Commission of Inquiry, established by the Betancur government, released a June 1986 report which concluded that [[Pablo Escobar]] had no relation with this event, so these allegations could not be proven (though it did not rule out the possibility either). Author Ana Carrigan alleged that the act was a conspiracy of the Colombian government.<ref>{{cite book| last =Carrigan| first =Ana | year =1993| title =The Palace of Justice: A Colombian Tragedy| publisher =Four Walls Eight Windows| isbn =978-0-941423-82-3}} p. 279</ref> Others state that the alleged Guerrilla-Cartel relation was unlikely to occur because the two organizations had several standoffs and confrontations, like the kidnapping of Nieves Ochoa, the sister of Medellin cartel founder [[Juan David Ochoa Vásquez]], by M-19.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.com/portal/especiales/especiales/detalle.noticia.php?idespecial=18&idarticulo=408|title=Noticias de Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia y el mundo – Peridico El Mundo|work=elmundo.com|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/muere-juan-david-ochoa-vasquez_12947122-4|title=Murió Juan David Ochoa, uno de los fundadores del cartel de Medellín|work=eltiempo.com|date=25 July 2013|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wradio.com.co/escucha/archivo_de_audio/marta-nieves-ochoa-hermana-de-fabio-ochoa/20071018/oir/495145.aspx|title=Marta Nieves Ochoa, hermana de Fabio Ochoa|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/politica/articuloimpreso-1981-plagio-de-martha-ochoa-se-creo-el-mas|title=1981-Plagio de Martha Ochoa se creó el MAS|work=ElEspectador|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref> The kidnapping led to the creation of the MAS/[[Muerte a Secuestradores]] ("Death to Kidnappers") paramilitary group by the [[Medellín Cartel|Medellin cartel]]. However, her theories and skepticism of Escobar and the Medellin Cartel's involvement was greatly discredited by others such as Rex Hudson, who presented allegedly "overwhelming evidence" linking the cartel to the plot.<ref>"Colombia’s Palace of Justice tragedy revisited: a critique of the conspiracy theory", ''Terrorism and Political Violence'' [Peer-Reviewed Journal], Volume 7, Issue 2, 1995.  Rex A. Hudson. pp. 93–142 at 103.</ref>

Former Assistant of the Colombia Attorney General, National Deputy Comptroller, author and Professor Jose Mauricio Gaona along with Former Minister of Justice and Ambassador to the United Kingdom [[Carlos Medellín Becerra]], the sons of two of the murdered Supreme Court magistrates, have pushed for further investigations into the presumed links between the M-19 and the [[Medellín Cartel]] drug lords. Mayor of Bogota [[Gustavo Petro]], a former M-19 guerrilla, has denied these accusations and dismissed them as based upon the inconsistent testimonies of drug lords. Petro says that the surviving members of the M-19 do admit to their share of responsibility for the tragic events of the siege, on behalf of the entire organization, but deny any links to the drug trade.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Octubre062004/A206N2.html| title=M-19 cambió drogas por armas | publisher=El País  |date=6 October 2005 | access-date=7 October 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015332/http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Octubre062004/A206N2.html |archive-date = 27 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>