Inauguration of President-elect Juan Manuel Santos

On 7 August 2010 President-elect Juan Manuel Santos will be inaugurated in Bogota. Approximately 160,000 police officers and 220,000 military personnel will be deployed to the capital and other strategic locations countrywide to reinforce security over the weekend. Aviation officials will restrict airspace during the ceremony, and intelligence teams and fighter aircraft will be on standby to prepare for possible security threats. A ban on the carrying of firearms has been in effect in Bogota and in the department of Cundinamarca since 1800 local time on 2 August; the ban will remain in place until 1800 local time on 11 August. Military and police forces will be on high alert beginning on 6 August due to the discovery of several planned attacks by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In August authorities discovered that FARC leaders had ordered the distribution of weapons throughout the capital and had instructed members and supporters to kill police officers and soldiers in order to create panic. Security forces reportedly foiled this plan by capturing four weapons traffickers in northern Bogota. Authorities thwarted another plot in July after a raid in the southern Santa Isabel district of Bogota uncovered a plan to carry out a mortar attack during the inauguration. Police officers discovered blueprints of the presidential headquarters, the Plaza de Bolivar and other buildings near the inauguration site at a FARC safe house. The FARC carried out a similar attack during Uribe’s inauguration ceremony in August 2002, launching mortars at the presidential residence, which killed 19 people and injured 40 others.