Colombia’s early release of former Medellin Cartel member Carlos Lehder has sparked outrage among victims, as they claim his crimes remain unpunished in the country. The alleged involvement of the former drug lord in the 1984 assassination of Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla still resonates in the country after his release from prison for serving his sentence.
The judge’s decision to grant freedom to Pablo Escobar’s former associate in the Medellin Cartel has caused a stir in a nation that, with Lehder’s return 38 years later, is confronting the ghosts of its most violent era and some of the most heinous crimes from the golden age of Colombia’s major drug traffickers.
In 1995, while jailed in the U.S., Lehder was sentenced to for 24 years in prison in Colombia for illegal possession of drugs, weapons, and ammunition. The Colombian justice now claims it cannot find the file, although the sentence was confirmed in 1999.
Colombia never tried to ensure that, once released, Lehder would be held accountable in his country. Today, with no prosecutable cases pending, Carlos Lehder walks free in Colombia.
Family of former Colombian minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla requests investigation into Carlos Lehder’s involvement
The return of former Colombian drug kingpin Carlos Lehder to the country has sent shockwaves through its political and social history, particularly for the families of victims from that era of violence and bloodshed.
The expiration of the 24-year sentence, for arms trafficking, imposed on Lehder in 1995 by Colombian justice—for his role as Escobar’s partner in the dangerous and criminal Medellin Cartel—leaves these families grappling with the reality that monstrous crimes remain entirely unpunished.
For 30 years, the Colombian state did nothing to bring Lehder back to the country to face accountability and serve his sentence. Now, released by the U.S. after 33 years in prison, he has no open cases and enjoys full freedom.
However, the family of former Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, assassinated by the Medellin Cartel in April 1984, has petitioned the Attorney General’s Office to reopen investigations against the former cartel member, who is accused of involvement in the high-profile murder of the official 41 years ago.
In an interview with local radio station Blu Radio, former congressman Rodrigo Lara Restrepo emphasized that Lehder bears responsibility for his father’s killing and insisted the case cannot remain in impunity.
“This organization murdered many Colombians, including my father, who served as justice minister and died because he stood firm against drug trafficking gangs and their political allies. All these crimes remain unpunished and were committed by the organization he [Lehder] controlled and commanded,” Lara Restrepo told the outlet.
Impunity for crimes more than four decades later
The politician argued that Lehder’s 33 years in a U.S. prison do not absolve the fact that his release in Colombia leaves his father’s murder unaddressed. It is worth noting that Lehder served his sentence in the U.S. solely for drug trafficking-related activities.
“This is not about forgiveness. Forgiveness requires justice, truth, and accountability. But he arrives in Colombia as if he owes no answers. This shows his contempt for Colombian institutions and, ultimately, for the Colombian people represented by those institutions,” stressed the son of the minister assassinated in 1984 by Lehder’s Medellin Cartel.
He also recalled that during the investigation into the assassination, Judge Tulio Manuel Castro Gil—who linked the Medellin Cartel to Lara Bonilla’s murder, later declared a crime against humanity in 2012—was himself killed.
“When a courageous judge, Tulio Manuel Castro Gil, connected the Medellin Cartel’s leadership, including Lehder, to the crime in the 1980s, he was immediately assassinated. Since then, impunity has prevailed. In my father’s case, only the low-ranking material perpetrators within the cartel’s criminal hierarchy have been convicted,” the former senator told El Tiempo newspaper.
The assassination of the minister who confronted the Medellin Cartel
On April 30, 1984, Colombia was shaken by the assassination of Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. His murder, ordered by the Medellín Cartel, marked a turning point in the fight against drug trafficking and exposed the immense power wielded by drug lords in the country.
Lara Bonilla, a 38-year-old politician, had taken office as Justice Minister in 1983 with a firm resolve to confront drug cartels, particularly targeting Pablo Escobar. From his position, he spearheaded a campaign to expose the ties between drug traffickers and Colombia’s political and economic spheres, making him a declared enemy of the cartels.
The assassination occurred as Lara Bonilla was traveling in his official vehicle through northern Bogotá. Hitmen on a motorcycle pulled alongside and fired repeatedly, killing him. The crime was quickly attributed to the Medellín Cartel, which sought to silence the government’s escalating crackdown.
The impact was immediate. The administration of President Belisario Betancur approved the extradition of drug traffickers to the United States, intensifying the war between the state and the cartels.
A nearly forgotten symbol of Colombia’s dark era
Lara Bonilla became a symbol of the anti-drug trafficking struggle, and his death underscored the urgent need to combat organized crime in a Colombia engulfed by violence.
Today, largely forgotten in Colombian public life, his son—politician Rodrigo Lara Restrepo—laments the lack of resolve to bring those responsible for his father’s murder to justice.
“I cannot understand why such little importance has been given to a case so critical to the country’s history. When people see that justice does not prevail, they feel free to defy a nation, its history, and its memory,” remarked the former senator.