- Title: COLOMBIA: THOUSANDS MOURN THE MURDER OF COLOMBIA'S BELOVED COMIC JAIME GARZON
- Date: 14th August 1999
- Summary: SV MUSICIANS SINGING SONG FOR JAIME GARZON.
- Embargoed: 29th August 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Crime,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA35FV65NYO6VYGEBPCURZ51SLS
- Story Text: Thousands of mourners have paid a tearful last tribute to Colombia's beloved comic Jaime Garzon, calling his murder a national tragedy and turning his funeral into a plea for an end to the long-running civil war.
With many of the trappings of a state funeral, Colombian comic Jaime Garzon lay in state in the Capitol and he was honoured with a Mass in Bogota's vast Plaza Bolivar square outside Congress on Saturday (August 14).
Garzon, who made his name with scathing parodies of politicians, died on Friday when he was hit by five.38-calibre bullets fired by two motorcycle-riding gunmen.He was due to be buried in northern Bogota on Saturday evening.
More than 60,000 people flocked into the historic square waving white banners with the slogan "No More" and chanting for a halt to Colombia's civil conflict, which has cost 35,000 lives in 10 years.
During the funeral procession, a bridge collapsed killing at least two people and injuring 15 others.Authorities report that the collapse could have been a result of the weight from hundreds of mourners waiting to catch a glimpse of the funeral caravan.
The murder of Garzon was Colombia's highest-profile assassination since the slaying of Conservative Party leader Alvaro Gomez in 1995.It sparked an outpouring of grief by rich and poor, reflecting the comic's cross-class appeal in this deeply divided nation.
He recently had been named to a team of influential civilians entrusted with jump-starting peace talks between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest rebel army.
Authorities have blamed his death on an ultra-right death squad that had threatened Garzon for his efforts in pushing for peace talks between the government and rebels.The paramilitary group denied the charge.
Some top politicians compared the public indignation to the uproar that followed the murders of presidential candidates Luis Carlos Galan, of the Liberal Party, in 1989 and of Carlos Pizarro, a former guerrilla, in 1990.
Garzon most recently had a TV and radio show in which he posed as a humble shoe-shine man speaking his mind and cracking jokes, mostly at the expense of the rich and powerful. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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