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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Dominican embassy siege
|partof=[[Colombian armed conflict]]
|image=
|caption=
|date= February 27 - April 27, 1980
|place= [[Bogotá]], {{COL}}
|casus= [[19th of April Movement|M-19 guerrilla]] [[siege]] of Dominican Republic embassy to demand the release of 311 jailed guerrilla comrades and their leader "Commandante Uno" ([[Rosemberg Pabón]]) 
|territory= [[Colombia]]
|result= release of all hostages, captors fleeing to [[Cuba]].
|combatant1=[[Government of Colombia]]<br>[[Colombian army]]
|combatant2=[[19th of April Movement]]
|combatant3=
|commander1=
|commander2=
|commander3=
|strength1=
|strength2=
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}}

The '''Dominican Embassy siege''' was the 1980  [[siege]] of the [[embassy]] of the [[Dominican Republic]] by [[19th of April Movement|M-19]] guerrillas in [[Bogotá]], [[Colombia]]. The guerrillas held nearly 60 people, including 14 [[ambassador]]s, [[hostage]] for 61 days.

==The Siege==
The siege began on the mid-day of February 27, 1980, when seventeen guerrillas dressed in the warm-up clothes of [[jogger]]s  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, AK-47's, and Rosemberg Pabón held a Browning 9MM as support to control the situation, wounded five people in the storming of the embassy. A 17-year-old guerrilla was killed initially by police. 

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 [[Colombia]]n civilians and workers at the embassy.

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

Colombian authorities began negotiating with the guerrillas after they threatened to kill the hostages.  On February 28, eighteen people, including the [[Costa Rica]]n 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.

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 US$10 million. Early on March 17, the [[Uruguay]]an ambassador, Fernando Gomez Fyns, escaped from the embassy by jumping from a window and running to troops surrounding the compound. The same day, [[Fidel Castro]] offered the guerrillas [[Political asylum|asylum]] in [[Cuba]].

From March 30 to April 19, the guerrillas released the [[Costa Rica]]n 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 US$2.5 million in [[ransom]] money.

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.

==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 [[Palace of Justice siege|seizing the Colombian Palace of Justice]] in November 1985, which left dozens dead.

==Further reading==
*{{cite book
| last =Asencio 
| first =Diego and Nancy 
| authorlink =
| coauthors =Ron Tobias
| year =1983
| title =Our man is inside
| publisher =Little, Brown
| location =Boston
| isbn =0316052949
}}<br>{{cite journal
| first =Karen 
| last =Deyoung 
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1983
| month =February 13
| title =Our man is inside: Outmaneuvering the Terrorists. (Review)
| journal =The Washington Post 
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =p. 5
| id =
| url =http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/72461.html
}}
{{Colombia_conflict|state=collapsed}}
<br>
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in 1980]]
[[Category:History of Colombia]]
[[Category:19th of April Movement]]
[[Category:1980 in Colombia]]

[[es:Toma de la embajada de la República Dominicana]]
[[fi:Dominikaanisen tasavallan Bogotan-suurlähetystön kaappaus]]
[[Category:2Fix]]