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97-690: The Cascavel shares many components with the EE-11 Urutu , its armoured personnel carrier counterpart; both entered production in 1974 and are now operated by over 20 nations in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Rights to the design were also sold to the United States via the FMC Corporation . About 2,767 Cascavels and Urutus were manufactured before Engesa ceased operations in 1993. Throughout

194-515: A CM60A1 gun-mortar, or a single HS804 20 mm autocannon. During the early 1990s, Colombia began seeking a domestically produced replacement for its Urutu fleet. The decision to acquire a uniquely Colombian armored personnel carrier was made because it saved hard currency and promoted local industry; with Engesa's closure, Colombian officials were also concerned that parts for the Urutu series would become increasingly scarce and expensive to source in

291-419: A close working relationship with army officials, and personal ties between that firm and the latter were instrumental in securing the initial contract for a new armored personnel carrier. The Urutu was also evaluated favorably because the army wanted lightweight, wheeled vehicles capable of operating over vast distances without the logistics considerations then necessitated by heavier or tracked vehicles. In 1972

388-541: A depression of -8°. It is not stabilised and only mounts a rudimentary optical fire-control system , which has been upgraded with a laser rangefinder in Brazilian service. Late production Cascavels were fitted with run-flat tyres and a unique central tyre pressure regulator accessible from the driving compartment. A boxy, boat-shaped vehicle, the EE-9 Cascavel has a steep frontal glacis which slopes upwards and back towards

485-505: A financial crisis in the early 1990s which forced it to suspend all its production lines. By 1993 the firm had declared bankruptcy, and production of the Urutu was formally terminated. Financial considerations and the perceived unreliability of the US as an external supplier of military equipment provided the impetus for the Urutu program's success with the Brazilian Army. Engesa had cultivated

582-635: A new engine and suspension features. Engesa president José Luiz Whitaker Ribeiro created the final design plans for the Cascavel and for a parallel project known as the Carro Transporte de Tropas Anfíbio (CTTA), which was to be an amphibious troop-carrying variant mounted on a similar chassis. The first prototype was completed in 1970. In late 1973, the Brazilian Navy accepted the CTTA for preliminary trials with

679-678: A number of EE-9 Cascavels against Egyptian tanks, likely T-54/55s or T-62s , during the Libyan–Egyptian War in 1977. Libyan Cascavels also saw action in Chad , where they engaged AML-90s of the French Foreign Legion and French Marines. An unknown number of these armoured cars were later donated to the Polisario Front and Togo , while others remained in service as late as the 2011 Libyan Civil War . Cascavels were still in use during

776-562: A nurse during the initial raid on the building. After the guerrillas had neutralised the security personnel guarding the building, they installed armed posts at strategic places, such as the stairs and the fourth floor. A group of guerrillas led by Commander Luis Otero got to the fourth floor and kidnapped the President of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Alfonso Reyes Echandía . In the meantime, many hostages took refuge in empty offices on

873-713: A peaceful solution with the rebels. Exactly a week later, on 14 November, he offered condolences for another tragedy: the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano , which killed 25,000 people in the Armero tragedy , in which he remarked "We have had one national tragedy after another". This siege led to the creation of the AFEUR unit within the Colombian Army to manage this kind of situation. Colombia's Armed Forces did not have antiterrorist units specifically trained for urban operations before

970-506: A raid on a residence south of Bogotá, a cassette containing the proclamation M-19 intended to have broadcast as one of their demands. Additionally, suspicion exists regarding the speed of the military's response, seen in the prompt arrival of armored cars, despite the great distance between their base and the Palace of Justice. In 2007 the testimony of an alleged witness, former policeman and intelligence agent Ricardo Gámez, gave further support to

1067-516: A soldier standing within twenty feet of wood-lined walls of the library that housed Colombian legal archives, the intense heat generated by the rocket's rear blast could have ignited the wooden paneling. In any event, in a shelved area stacked high with old papers, files, books, and newspapers, the quantity of explosives used by the military virtually guaranteed a conflagration." In total, over 6000 different documents were burned. The fire lasted about 2 days, even with efforts from firemen to try to smother

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1164-466: A week after the events, Humberto Murica, a retired Supreme Court Judge who had survived the siege stated to the Washington Post that he rejected claims that M19 was concerned with the files based on the militants' conversations. It has also been noted that destroying the files housed at the Palace of Justice would not have prevented extradition as copies of the files were stored elsewhere, including at

1261-530: Is likely that their remains may be among a number of unidentified and charred bodies, one of which was identified through DNA testing done by the National University of Colombia , leaving the fates of the other 10 still in question. According to Ana Carrigan, Irma Franco, a law student and M-19 guerrilla, disappeared after she was captured. Carrigan states that Franco was seen in the custody of Colombian special forces by several hostages. She also states that

1358-456: Is operated by a gunner seated directly behind the driver in the left of the hull. In all late production models, the gunner's station is also provided with day/night sights with five power magnification and a stadiametric rangefinder. Some of the more common Urutu variants replaced the Browning heavy machine gun with a single turret or pintle-mounted 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun. Depending on

1455-407: Is the same: the driving compartment is located to the front left of the hull, with the engine compartment to the front right and the troop compartment to the immediate rear. The driver is provided with a hatch and three driving periscopes in the sharply angled vehicle glacis. Passengers may debark from doors on either side of the hull or from the rear; they are also afforded four emergency hatches in

1552-715: Is unclear how many were in reserve storage or operational. Some were apparently restored to service by Libyan militias during the civil war and retrofitted with BM-11 multiple rocket launchers. The Urutu was deployed by both sides during the Iran–Iraq War . Most of the Iraqi Urutus were assigned to individual brigades of the Republican Guard during that conflict. It is unclear where Iran obtained its Urutu fleet; while most would appear to have been captured from Iraq, French historian Pierre Razoux asserted that at least some of

1649-803: The 2016 battle of Sirte against the Islamic State . Chad's Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT) received five EE-9 Cascavels from Libya in 1986. Over the course of the Chadian–Libyan conflict , seventy-nine ex-Libyan Cascavels were captured or recovered from the Aouzou Strip by the Chadian military, which continues to hold them in storage. The National Army of Colombia acquired 128 new EE-9 Cascavels in 1982, in order to modernize its equipment in case of an armed conflict with Venezuela. The armoured cars saw their first and most meaningful action during

1746-532: The Brazilian Army was developing an updated Greyhound known simply by its Portuguese initials, CRR ( Carro de Reconhecimento sobre Rodas ). Engesa, then an obscure civilian engineering firm, took over the project and by November 1970 a prototype of an entirely new vehicle using the Greyhound's basic layout was completed. The new EE-9 Cascavel entered the pre-production phase between 1972 and 1973. Assembly lines for

1843-504: The Chadian–Libyan conflict , most often during mechanized operations in support of National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT) rebels. To downplay the extent of overt Libyan involvement, the Urutus were typically stationed near FROLINAT posts and presented to the press as FROLINAT vehicles. Prior to the 2011 Libyan Civil War , the Libyan Army had 100 Urutus remaining in service, although it

1940-497: The EE-11 Urutu . The Urutu benefited greatly from the initial export success of the EE-9 Cascavel, with a number of national armies ordering both vehicle types to simplify logistics. Chile purchased 37 in 1975 to complement its preexisting Cascavel fleet; this was followed by similar orders from Libya and Iraq. By the late 1980s, both Libya and Iraq may have purchased hundreds of Urutus each, some of which were re-exported to other states and regional militant movements. In 1980,

2037-483: The Iran–Iraq War , which became, in effect, a proving ground for the vehicle type. A number of specialized variants were later developed for internal security purposes, vehicle recovery, air defense, cargo transport, and medical evacuation. One hybrid variant was modified to accept the same 90 mm turret-mounted cannon as its Cascavel counterpart; this was marketed unsuccessfully to the United States Army as

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2134-791: The Mozambican Civil War to protect Harare's primary commercial links in Tete Province . The armoured cars provided armed escort for local convoys and patrolled the roads to preempt attacks by South African -backed Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgents. During Zimbabwe's intervention in the Second Congo War , Ilyushin Il-76s commandeered from local charter firms were used to airlift twelve Cascavels to N'djili Airport . From there they subsequently engaged Rwandan troops advancing on Kinshasa . Some were abandoned by Zimbabwean troops in

2231-642: The New Iraqi Army . Locally modified EE-9 were refurbished by Iraqi militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces , with some having their 90mm replaced or supplemented by DShK or ZPU machine guns, 107mm Type 63 rockets or a 2A28 Grom gun. They were used against Islamic State forces. Zimbabwe procured ninety EE-9 Cascavels in 1984 as a suitable replacement for the Eland Mk7 . At least one Zimbabwean Cascavel squadron deployed into Mozambique during

2328-455: The Palace of Justice of Colombia , entering through the basement. Meanwhile, another group of guerrillas disguised as civilians took over the first floor and the main entrance. The guerrillas killed security guards Eulogio Blanco and Gerardo Díaz Arbeláez and building manager Jorge Tadeo Mayo Castro. Jorge Medina, a witness located in the basement at the start of the siege, said that "suddenly,

2425-582: The Palace of Justice siege in 1985, when members of the M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá . The EE-9s made some direct hits against the structure's external walls, which started a fire that destroyed the building and killed several hostages. During the Iran–Iraq War , EE-9 Cascavels were operated by Iraqi garrisons near the Persian Gulf . The armoured cars were frequently able to outmanoeuvre

2522-623: The South African Army . South Africa was the first foreign power to show an explicit interest in the Urutu and even tested a model optimized for southern African conditions as the Vlakvark . Engesa lost the bid to a German firm which produced a prototype of what would later become the Ratel . Its next attempt to market the Urutu on the international market took place in Chile and was more successful. Due to

2619-603: The Uruvel . Urutus were once operated by over thirty national armies and security forces worldwide. During the early 1960s, Brazil's defense industry was negligible and limited largely to producing small arms or refurbishing obsolete US military equipment. Between 1964 and 1967 the Brazilian government launched a program to revitalize the arms industry in response to growing US reluctance to transfer modern defense technology otherwise needed for its own war effort in Vietnam . This provided

2716-464: The VBTP-MR Guarani . Engesa was able to export Urutus widely on three continents. The rugged nature of the vehicles, as well as the fact that they were technologically simple and straightforward to maintain made them attractive purchases for a number of armies in South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Furthermore, Engesa was financially dependent on the prospect of successful exports; despite

2813-410: The "instigators" of the massacre. Uribe also had a meeting with the military command to find ways to protect them from "judiciary decisions that interfere with their work". Nevertheless, Colombia's General Attorney declared that crimes against humanity took place during the siege, which allowed for the continued processing of another colonel and one general involved in the incident. María Stella Jara,

2910-476: The Army's Thirteenth Brigade, would be summoned for questioning and investigated for the crimes of kidnapping and forced disappearance. Public prosecutors were to reopen the case after examining video tape recordings and identifying cafeteria manager Carlos Augusto Rodríguez being taken outside of the Palace of Justice alive by a soldier, together with other former M-19 hostages. Sánchez was then detained. In May 2007, he

3007-597: The Brazilian Army and the Brazilian Marine Corps formally expressed interest in the Urutu, and by late 1973 the first pre-production vehicles were being trialed. The Urutus tested by the Brazilian Marines were fitted with trim vanes, shrouded propellers, twin rudders, and four air intake tubes to negotiate open sea. Only 6 were ordered. The Brazilian Army accounted for the remainder of Engesa's initial order, purchasing over 200 Urutus. The Urutus were adopted by

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3104-406: The Cascavel and its armoured personnel carrier counterpart, the EE-11 Urutu , were opened in 1974. The hulls were purchased by the Brazilian Army but mounted the same antiquated 37mm cannon and turret recycled from its elderly Greyhounds. To compete with more formidable armament available on the international market, Engesa also marketed a heavily modified Cascavel with an automatic transmission and

3201-689: The Cascavel in preference to the Panhard AML-90 or ERC-90 Sagaie , with the former negotiating a $ 400 million deal for the delivery of two hundred Cascavels and two hundred Urutus. Following the Libyan sale, Engesa unveiled a new production model carrying a Belgian designed, Cockerill main gun manufactured under licence as the EC-90 in Brazil. The Armed Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya successfully deployed

3298-588: The Colombian military on 28 August 1985. Hours later, after a military raid, the incident had left almost half of the twenty-five Supreme Court Justices dead. Luis Otero was in charge of directing the military aspects of the siege. Major drug traffickers had issued death threats against the Supreme Court Justices since 1985, with the intention of forcing them to rule out the Extradition Treaty with

3395-762: The Congo after being sabotaged beyond repair, while four others were captured by rebel factions. Few remain in present service due to lack of funds to source new parts from Brazil. The EE-9 Cascavel was also saw combat during the Myanmar civil war on the side of the State Administration Council , taking some losses. The EE-9 Cascavel has found favour with many armies due to its simplified design and use of components already ubiquitous to civilian industry. Its low cost next to comparable Western armoured cars makes it an attractive purchase to developing nations in particular. At

3492-665: The EE-11 Urutu in large numbers, the Brazilian Army was more forthcoming and purchased 223; these entered service in 1975. The Urutu was the first fully amphibious armored vehicle developed in Brazil: it can propel itself through water at speeds of 8 km/h via twin propellers. Urutus proved to be extremely popular in the Middle East , particularly with Libya and Iraq , both of which purchased large numbers to complement their fleets of Cascavel armored cars. Iraq deployed its Urutus during

3589-517: The Iranian Urutus were acquired directly through Brazil. Another possibility is that the Urutus were transferred to Iran by a third party. No restrictive conditions were placed on the re-sale or transfer of Engesa products purchased by Libya, allowing that country to re-export Cascavels and Urutus as it saw fit. Libya reportedly exported 130 unidentified armored vehicles of Brazilian origin to Iran before 1987. The basic layout of all Urutu variants

3686-596: The M-19 and the Medellín Cartel , told Cromos magazine in late 2005 that she now believes that the Cartel may have financially supported the M-19. Pablo Escobar 's son, Sebastián Marroquín , claimed that while his father did not come up with or plan the raid, he did pay M-19 a million dollars. Escobar said that he supported M-19 because he "believed in the ideals" of M-19 and "looked for ways to preserve and support them". On

3783-429: The M-19 movement who were pardoned after they demobilized. Eduardo Umaña, the first attorney representing some of the families of the people killed during the siege, was assassinated in 1998, and several members of those families had to flee to Europe because of death threats against them. At least 11 people disappeared during the events of the siege, most of them cafeteria workers, the fate of ten of them unknown. It

3880-516: The Marine Corps. The former later declined to purchase the vehicle type in large numbers and only ordered 6. Brazilian Army officials were more forthcoming and ordered 217. Mass production of the CTTA commenced in 1974. The vehicles were assembled in a new, purpose-built factory Engesa had constructed in São José dos Campos . The first CTTAs entered service with the Brazilian Army the following year as

3977-416: The Middle East, and a number of Arab states such as Iraq dispatched military missions to Brazil that year to evaluate them. The Iraqi Army subsequently placed an order for 100 Urutus. Libya ordered more Cascavels and 180 Urutus in 1981. In time, these two nations became the largest single operators of the vehicle type, each holding hundreds of Urutus in service. Libya deployed its Urutus extensively during

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4074-648: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Embassy. The Special Commission of Inquiry, established by the Betancur government after intense public pressure, released a June 1986 report which concluded that the destruction of files was not a goal of the M19 operation. Author Ana Carrigan , who quoted the June 1986 report in her book on the siege and originally dismissed any such links between

4171-430: The Palace of Justice, after having occupied some of the lower floors during the first day of the siege. After surrounding the building with EE-9 Cascavel armored cars and EE-11 Urutu armored personnel carriers and soldiers armed with G3 assault rifles and MP5 submachine guns , they stormed the building sometime after 2 pm. The EE-9s knocked down the building's massive doorway, and even made some direct hits against

4268-632: The Red Cross and initiate dialogue. However, the assault on the Palace of Justice commenced later that morning. The operation to retake the building was led by General Jesús Armando Arias Cabrales, commander of the Thirteenth Army Brigade in Bogotá; he appointed Colonel Alfonso Plazas, commander of an armored cavalry battalion, to personally oversee the operation. The retaking of the building began that day and ended on 7 November, when Army troops stormed

4365-455: The US Army issued a requirement for a new wheeled armored vehicle for a proposed new mobile deployment force, able to bring to bear air-portable firepower in the event of a crisis in the Middle East or Asia. In response, Engesa proposed an Urutu with a large turret ring and the same 90 mm gun as its Cascavel counterpart; this hybrid vehicle was known as the Uruvel . At least one modified Urutu

4462-521: The United States. According to the investigation carried out by the Special Court of Instruction created by decree 3300 of 1985, state security agencies and even the media had varying levels of knowledge about the siege prior to the attack. A month earlier, two guerrillas were arrested loitering around the Palace and had building plans in their possession. The military authorities had also found, in

4559-474: The United States. In 2010, retired Colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for his alleged role in forced disappearances after the siege. The President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe , reacted by declaring that he was "sad and hurt" by the decision. He announced his intention of seeking changes to the way military are judged in Colombia and asked for prison sentences for those he called

4656-448: The amount of defence technology available for export. Brazil responded by creating an indigenous import substitution programme in 1968 aimed at reproducing US equipment already in service. Already in 1966 an article in the military periodical A Defesa Nacional had argued that the state of national automotive industry , highways and Petrobras fuel production made it viable to locally produce an 8–10 ton, 6x6 armoured vehicle, and by 1970

4753-416: The army. From the tapes of the military and police inter-communications it is known that army intelligence arrested at least seventeen people in the course of the two-day siege. None of the M-19 leaders, with the exception of Andrés Almarales , were ever identified in the city morgue. The events surrounding the Palace of Justice siege received renewed media coverage in Colombia during the 20th anniversary of

4850-479: The building. The Palace of Justice siege was a 1985 attack on the Supreme Court of Colombia , in which members of the leftist M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá and held the Supreme Court hostage , intending to hold a trial against President Belisario Betancur . The guerrilla group called themselves the " Iván Marino Ospina Company" after an M-19 commander who had been killed by

4947-543: The claims of state foreknowledge. Gamez, who first tried to file a report of misconduct in 1989 had been deemed unreliable by the Attorney General's Office for the Military Forces and Prosecutor's Office, but parts of his testimony were later corroborated by the discovery of video recordings showing hostages who were later disappeared or died under torture being evacuated from the Palace. The witness said that days before

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5044-455: The early 1960s, Brazil's bilateral defence agreements with the United States ensured easy access to a post-war surplus of American military equipment, including a number of World War II -vintage M8 Greyhound armoured cars. The Brazilian arms industry limited itself to restoring and maintaining this obsolete hardware until 1964 when American involvement in the Vietnam War placed restrictions on

5141-494: The entire Brazilian armed forces at the time. Chile retired its Urutus in 2002 and sold off its entire fleet to an Israeli defense contractor for re-export. Engesa's largest success in the export market came in the 1970s from Libya, which ordered 200 Cascavels as part of an arms deal worth $ 100 million. The Cascavel's combat debut in the 1977 Libyan–Egyptian War aroused international interest in Engesa armored vehicles, especially in

5238-401: The extradition treaty between Colombia and the United States. About three hours after the initial seizure, army troops rescued about 200 hostages from the lower three floors of the building; the surviving gunmen and remaining hostages occupied the upper two floors. A recording was delivered to a radio station soon after the seizure, saying that the M-19 group had taken over the building "in

5335-544: The first floor, where they hid until around 2 pm. The assailants took 300 people hostage, including the 24 justices and 20 other judges. The first hostage the guerrilla group asked for was the Supreme Court Justice and President of the Constitutional Court, then called Sala Constitucional , Manuel Gaona Cruz , who was in charge of delivering the opinion of the court with regard to the constitutionality of

5432-547: The flames. An investigated theory to the "disappearance" of the missing entities in the siege is that they were charred in the fire, and were not able to be identified in any way, and without having been found, these entities are regarded as missing in action. This theory is still being studied in the different trials of the case. Ninety-eight people died during the assault on the Palace. Those killed consisted of hostages, soldiers, and guerrillas, including their leader, Andrés Almarales, and four other senior commanders of M-19. After

5529-431: The future. In 1993, Colombia produced a single prototype designated El Zipo , which was essentially a simplified Urutu rebuilt with local parts and a reverse engineered hull. Between 1996 and 2003 three more prototypes were built and designated Aymara . The program was shelved after the Colombian Army rejected the Aymara in favor of the Dragoon 300 to complement the Urutus remaining in service. At least one prototype

5626-463: The government. After the siege, firemen rushed to the site of the assault and smothered the few flames left in the palace. Other rescue groups assisted with removing debris and rubble left after the siege. President Betancur went on national TV on the night of 7 November, saying he took full responsibility for the "terrible nightmare"; He offered condolences to the families of those who died, civilians and rebels, and said he would continue to look for

5723-402: The guerrilla left with several hostages and was never seen again. The Special Commission of Inquiry confirmed Franco's disappearance, and the judges requested that the investigation of her case be thoroughly pursued. One week after the siege, M-19 released a communique to the press claiming that six leaders, including Franco, and "seven other fighters" had all been "disappeared and murdered" by

5820-429: The guerrillas entered the basement in a truck. They opened fire with their machine guns against everyone who was there". The official report judged that the guerrillas planned the takeover operation to be a 'bloody takeover'. According to these official sources the guerrillas "set out to shoot indiscriminately and detonate building-shaking bombs while chanting M19-praising battle cries." The M-19 lost one guerrilla and

5917-417: The heavier Iranian Chieftain tanks and tracked combat vehicles on the relatively flat, sandy terrain near the coastal region. Coalition air strikes later destroyed several north of Kuwait City in Operation Desert Storm . Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq , the surviving fleet was condemned for scrap; however, American technical personnel did restore thirty-five to working order in 2008 and present them to

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6014-405: The height of the Cold War, the strictly commercial nature of Engesa sales—devoid of any political supplier restraints—was also perceived as an acceptable alternative to arms from NATO and the Warsaw Pact . All EE-9 Cascavels have a similar layout—the driver is seated at the front of the vehicle and to the left, turrets are typically fitted above the centre, with motor and transmission situated at

6111-421: The horizontal hull roof, with recesses for the headlamps and a thick glacis plate over the driver's seat. The hull sides are nearly vertical, but also sloped inwards towards the roof. There is a low, well-rounded turret on the forward section of the hull with a long, tapered gun barrel and a triple baffle muzzle brake. EE-11 Urutu The EE-11 Urutu is a Brazilian amphibious armored personnel carrier . It

6208-424: The hull roof. The troop compartment is fitted with vision blocks and firing ports as standard to allow passengers situational awareness while embarked. An Urutu's hull is composed of two distinct layers of welded ballistic steel able to resist point-blank small arms fire, including 7.62×39mm armor-piercing ammunition. The Urutu was fitted with a 12.7mm Browning M2 heavy machine gun as standard. The machine gun

6305-412: The impetus for a number of Brazilian engineering firms to begin developing new weapons for domestic purposes, namely Engenheiros Especializados SA (Engesa). In 1967 design work began on a new wheeled armored car to replace the ageing M8 Greyhound then in service with the reconnaissance units of the Brazilian Army. This would evolve into the EE-9 Cascavel , which was based on an upgraded Greyhound with

6402-407: The judge that handed the sentence to Colonel Plazas left the country after receiving multiple death threats to her and her son. She and her family had to live under heavy surveillance for the duration of the trial. On 16 December 2015 Colonel Plazas Vega was declared innocent in a five to three vote by the Colombian Supreme Court and absolved of his previous 30-year prison sentence. The declaration

6499-429: The large orders for Cascavels and Urutus placed by the Brazilian Army, it would be unable to sustain production otherwise. The domestic market was simply insufficient to support an armored vehicle industry, so export orders were perceived as helping achieve the economy of scale needed to make Engesa's operations viable. In 1973, Engesa unsuccessfully bid for a contract to develop a new wheeled infantry fighting vehicle for

6596-400: The name of peace and social justice". From the Supreme Court, the M-19 members demanded via telephone that President Belisario Betancur come to the Palace of Justice in order to stand trial and negotiate. The president refused and ordered an emergency cabinet session. The M-19 rebels freed State Councillor Reynaldo Arciniegas at 8:30am, with a message for the government to allow the entry of

6693-500: The political isolation of the Chilean military regime, Engesa found it had little competition in selling armored vehicles to that country's armed forces. Chile obligingly placed an order for 37 Urutus in 1975. The importance with which Engesa regarded this order was highlighted by its prioritization of the Chilean purchase in production, with domestic orders to the Brazilian Army being temporarily sidelined. In 1976, more Cascavels and Urutus were delivered to Chile than were in service with

6790-402: The possibility of a sort of de facto "24-hour coup", during which the military was in control of the situation. According to Ana Carrigan's 1993 book The Palace of Justice: A Colombian Tragedy , Supreme Court Chief Justice Alfonso Reyes was apparently burned alive during the assault, as someone incinerated his body after pouring gasoline over it. The book also asserts that, after the siege

6887-444: The presumed links between the M-19 and the Medellín Cartel drug lords, but also to any other possible links to the investigations performed by the Justices of members of the Armed Forces. President 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

6984-400: The raid, another Supreme Court justice died in a hospital after suffering a heart attack . The siege of the Palace of Justice and the subsequent raid was one of the deadliest attacks in Colombia in its war with leftist rebels. The M-19 group was still a potent force after the raid, but was severely hampered by the deaths of five of its leaders. In March 1990, it signed a peace treaty with

7081-440: The rear two axles are fitted with a unique boomerang type walking beam suspension with semi-elliptical springs. Urutus had a very distinct hull with a sharply angled glacis; the front of the hull slopes back to just forward of the rear wheels at 60°. The hull sides are vertical until halfway to the roof line, at which point they slope slightly inwards. Hull doors are visible to the rear of the first wheel station on either side of

7178-415: The rear. The Cascavel Mk II has a manual turret, but all later variants have electrically powered traverse. Cascavel Mk IIIs are equipped with an Engesa EC-90 90mm gun firing high explosive (HE), high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) or high explosive squash head (HESH) shells in cartridge form; a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun is also mounted to the left of the main armament. The EC-90 has an elevation of +15° and

7275-417: The rebels, and another million in arms and explosives to steal his files from the Palace of Justice, before the Supreme Court began studying the extradition of the leading members of the cocaine cartels to the United States. During her testimony, that lasted five hours, the journalist described also photographs of sixteen bodies that she had received anonymously in that year. According to her, Escobar identified

7372-472: The relationship of the drug lord with the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua and the M-19 ; also, a meeting of Escobar with the rebel commander Ivan Marino Ospina , in which she had been present, two weeks before the latter was killed by the Army, on August 28, 1985. In her judicial declaration, Vallejo confirmed how, in mid-1986, Escobar had told her that he had paid one million dollars in cash to

7469-525: The same 90mm (3.54 in) low-pressure gun found on the Panhard AML . This model, intended for export, drew interest in the Middle East and twenty were immediately purchased by Qatar. The Qatari Cascavel sale proved to be a major success for Engesa, and Brazil's first successful inroad into the Arabian arms trade. Abu Dhabi followed suit with an order for two hundred Cascavels in 1977. Both Iraq and Libya chose

7566-484: The same day of the siege, the Supreme Court's docket apparently called for the beginning of pending deliberations on the constitutionality of the Colombia-United States extradition treaty. The M-19 was publicly opposed to extradition on nationalist grounds. Several of the magistrates had been previously threatened by drug lords in order to prevent any possibility of a positive decision on the treaty. One year after

7663-480: The same hatch and door configuration; however, the interior dimensions were different. For example, the engine compartment of the Aymara was located in the center of the hull rather than at the front and to the right like the Urutu. The prototypes were all at least five tonnes heavier than the standard Urutu and lacked amphibious capability. Palace of Justice siege Colombian government victory. Destruction of

7760-408: The siege, and some partially blamed the outcome on the relative inexperience of the personnel assigned to the task. The magistrates killed were: Shortly after the siege, the U.S. and Colombian Justice Minister Enrique Parejo asserted that drug traffickers had financed the operation in order to get rid of various criminal files that were lost during the event, hoping to avoid extradition. Less than

7857-641: The siege, the treaty was declared unconstitutional. Former Assistant to the Colombian Attorney General , National Deputy Comptroller, author and renowned Professor Jose Mauricio Gaona (son of murdered Supreme Court magistrate Manuel Gaona Cruz ) along with the former Minister of Justice and Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom , Carlos Medellín Becerra (son of magistrate Carlos Medellín Forero ), have consistently pushed for further and broader lines of investigations related not only to

7954-478: The size of the turret ring, it was also possible to fit heavier turrets carrying gun-mortars or low-pressure cannon for direct fire support. Transmission consists of an Allison MT-643 automatic gearbox with five forward and one reverse gear ratios. Early Brazilian Army Urutus used either a Clark manually operated gearbox with the same gear pattern or a manual Mercedes-Benz 63/40 gearbox. The Urutu has an independent double wishbone suspension for its front wheels, but

8051-407: The structure's external walls. A fire broke out inside the building during the assault. The results of the tests carried out later by ballistics experts and investigators demonstrated that the most likely cause of the burning criminal records, containing proof and warrants against many criminals, was the recoil effect of the army's rockets and not part of M-19's actions. Tests proved that if fired by

8148-415: The subsequent decades. Ana Carrigan asserted in her 1993 book that "Colombia has moved on... Colombia has forgotten the Palace of Justice siege", in much the same way that, in her opinion, Colombians have also forgotten or adopted a position of denial towards other tragic events, such as the 1928 Santa Marta Massacre . No definite responsibility has been fixed on the government or on the surviving members of

8245-454: The support infantry troops in armored cavalry platoons and almost always deployed in concert with Cascavel armored cars. This practice was simplified by the vehicles' shared logistics train and interchangeability in automotive parts. The Urutu remained in front-line service with the Brazilian Army for almost forty years, at which point its basic technology had become quite dated in spite of continuous upgrades; since 2014 it has been superseded by

8342-596: The takeover of the Palace of Justice, all intelligence personnel were quartered under the warning that something was going to happen and that an operational command had already been set up in the Casa del Florero. At 5:30 AM (UTC-5) hours before the takeover, he and several intelligence agents were located in Carrera Septima near Santander Park, waiting for the attack to begin. On 6 November 1985, at 11:35 a.m., three vehicles holding 35 guerrillas (25 men and 10 women) stormed

8439-649: The tragedy. Among other outlets, the country's main daily El Tiempo , the weekly El Espectador , and the Cromos magazine published several articles, interviews and opinion pieces on the matter, including stories about the survivors, as well as the plight of the victims' relatives and those of the missing. The Supreme Court created a Truth Commission in order to investigate the siege. The Commission officially began its work on November 3, 2005. On 22 August 2006, Attorney General Mario Iguarán announced that former Colonel Edilberto Sánchez, former B-2 intelligence chief of

8536-417: The tragic events of the siege, on behalf of the entire organization, but deny any links to the drug trade. Later investigations and commentators have considered both the M-19 and the military as responsible for the deaths of the justices and civilians inside the building. Some have blamed President Belisario Betancur for not taking the necessary actions or for failing to negotiate, and others have commented on

8633-582: The vehicle, although the final production run of Urutus produced by Engesa eliminated the door on the right to create a more spacious engine compartment. Engesa produced a wide variety of variants which grafted modifications on its basic production models; of these the Uruvel is the most well-known, but the others went largely unnamed and were often designated according to their intended role. There were also Urutu prototypes modified to carry turrets armed with twin general-purpose machine guns, twin heavy machine guns,

8730-470: The vice president Francisco Santos , and defense minister Juan Manuel Santos . On radio stations, Vallejo accused the office of the Colombian Attorney General of filtering it to the media and adulterating the contents, to protect the military and the former presidential candidate Alberto Santofimio , Escobar's political ally. On 3 June 2010, Virginia Vallejo was granted political asylum in

8827-503: The victims as the employees of the cafeteria of the Palace and two rebel women that had been detained by the Army after the siege, and had been tortured and disappeared on orders of colonel Edilberto Sánchez, director of B-2, Military Intelligence. Though her testimony was protected under gag, several excerpts appeared on 17 August 2008 in El Tiempo , the newspaper of the Santos' family, including

8924-505: Was based on the drive train and chassis components of the EE-9 Cascavel armored car and initially emerged as part of a project to develop an amphibious troop-carrying counterpart to that vehicle for the Brazilian Army and Marine Corps (CFN). The first pre-production models entered service with the CFN in 1973 and serial production commenced the following year. While the CFN declined to adopt

9021-484: Was delivered to the US for trials. If the US Army adopted the Uruvel, a little over half the vehicle's production would be undertaken in the US by the FMC Corporation . In anticipation of a successful bid, FMC even purchased licenses from Engesa to manufacture both the Urutu and the Cascavel, along with their associated parts. The program was shelved during the late 1980s, and the Uruvel was not adopted by any country except Tunisia , which ordered 12. Engesa experienced

9118-485: Was over, some twenty-eight bodies were dumped into a mass grave and apparently soaked with acid, in order to make identification difficult. Carrigan argued that the bodies of the victims of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano eruption, which buried the city of Armero and killed more than 20,000 people, were dumped into the same mass grave, making any further forensic investigations impractical. Despite numerous investigations and lawsuits to date, impunity prevailed for most of

9215-406: Was questioned by prosecutors about his possible role in the disappearance of Irma Franco and at least two cafeteria workers, who would have left the Palace alive. Sánchez rejected the charges and proclaimed his innocence. He accepted that he could have received the order to cover the exit of some hostages from the Palace of Justice. On 11 July 2008, Virginia Vallejo , the television anchorwoman who

9312-407: Was retained for training purposes, while another may have been converted into an explosive ordnance disposal vehicle. The Colombian Urutu derivatives shared the same transmission, electrical system, and engine of the baseline Urutu but utilized a four-wheeled chassis which eliminated the vehicle's articulated boomerang suspension. Their hulls were externally identical to that of the Urutu, retaining

9409-588: Was romantically involved with Pablo Escobar from 1983 to 1987 and author of "Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar" (2007) ( Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar ), was asked to testify in the reopened case of the siege of the Palace of Justice, in order to confirm events that she had described in her memoir, in the chapter "That Palace in Flames", in pages 230 to 266. In the Colombian Consulate in Miami, under oath, she described

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