Ana Elvia Cortés was 53 years old and made a living milking six cows and growing corn with her husband in the village of Palestina, Boyacá. On May 15, 2000, four hooded men entered her home at dawn, poisoned the dog, and fastened a device made of PVC pipes and explosives around her neck. They demanded 7.500 dollars not to detonate it.
Sub-inspector Jairo Hernando López, 28, tried to defuse it for hours on the side of the Chiquinquirá Ring Road. He spoke to her calmly, telling her it would all be over soon and that afterward they would have lunch together. She could only wait, terrified, while half the country followed the scene on radio and television.
At 12:30 noon, the bomb exploded. Ana Elvia died instantly. López died hours later on the way to Bogotá’s Military Hospital. The Attorney General’s Office eventually arrested José Miguel Suárez, her own neighbor, who was sentenced to 32 years in prison. A humble woman paid with her life for the greed of someone who saw her every day.
