Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will go ahead with a lecture in Argentina as planned, after a bomb was found Tuesday at the venue he is scheduled to appear in.
Uribe has remained silent on the attempted attack, but notified the public through his advisers that he would still be appearing at the Gran Rex theater in Buenos Aires Wednesday.
The explosive device was discovered in a light fixture by theater staff Tuesday. Inside the box containing the device, police also found a cell phone, a nine-volt battery, an electric igniter and pyrotechnics, according to Argentinian police spokesperson Nestor Rodriquez.
“These pyrotechnic devices have a reactive load that contain about 50 grams of black powder each,” he added.
“These kinds of noisemaking bombs are designed to produce extremely loud noises while causing little physical damage,” read the police statement.
The bomb was reportedly scheduled to detonate during a cocktail reception following the former head of state’s speech. An estimated 800 guests were expected to attend the event.
Current President Juan Manuel Santos called on Colombian security forces to “get to the bottom” of the bomb threat.
“The government is doing and will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of President Uribe and his family,” Santos said on his Twitter account.
Authorities have yet to identify possible perpetrators in the assassination plot.
During his presidential tenure between 2002 and 2010, Uribe took great steps to combat illegal armed groups including leftist guerrilla organizations like the FARC and the ELN and started the demobilization process of right-wing paramilitaries in 2004.
He has been the target of allegations from former paramilitary members, namely ex-AUC leader Salvatore Mancuso, who claimed his paramilitary organization helped finance Uribe’s 2006 presidential reelection. Several politicians who worked under Uribe have been implicated in the “parapolitics” scandal which saw paramilitary groups provide political and financial support to Colombian officials.
