Julio Cesar Turbay, 89; Led Colombia From 1978 to ’82

Former Colombian President Julio Cesar Turbay, who in 1980 negotiated the release of dozens of diplomats held hostage by leftist rebels for 61 days, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Turbay, who led the nation from 1978 to 1982, died of heart failure at the Santa Fe clinic in Bogota, said Interior and Justice Minister Sabas Pretelet.

In the notorious terrorist attack of Feb. 27, 1980, fighters from the M-19 guerrilla group took 50 officials, including 16 ambassadors and the papal delegate, hostage at the Dominican ambassador’s home in a daring raid.

The rebels -- in track suits, posing as soccer players in front of the residence -- kicked a ball over the wall. Pretending to retrieve it, they killed a surprised guard and forced their way into the building. A two-hour shootout left one guerrilla dead and two soldiers wounded.

Sixty-one days later, the rebels were allowed to fly to Cuba with a $1-million ransom in a deal negotiated by Turbay. Authorities had turned down demands that they release jailed rebels and pay $50 million.

“His calm and measured handling of one of the most difficult politico-military acts that Colombia faced at the time was admirable,” Rosemberg Pabon, the hostage-takers’ leader, later recalled after he was granted amnesty when the M-19 laid down its arms in 1990.

“He was the great conciliator,” Belisario Betancourt, another former Colombian president, recalled of his deceased colleague Tuesday.

A native of Bogota, Turbay earned a bachelor’s degree at the nation’s school of commerce.

He served in Colombia’s House of Representatives and Senate and held ministerial posts including foreign affairs and mines and energy. He served as U.N. ambassador and ambassador to both Britain and the United States.

He won the presidential election in 1978, in which only 41% of the electorate voted. Since leaving office in 1982, Turbay had been a key member of the Liberal Party.

In 1991, Turbay saw his journalist daughter, Diana, abducted by gunmen working for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue attempt.

Turbay is survived by his second wife, Amparo Canal, and three children from his first marriage.

A memorial service will be held today at the Bogota Cathedral. Turbay will be buried at a cemetery in north Bogota.