Events from the year 2004 in Colombia.
Incumbents
President: Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002 – 2010). Vice President: Francisco Santos Calderón (2002 – 2010).
Events January 2 January – Senior Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member Simón Trinidad is captured in Quito, Ecuador.
February 21 February – The 2004 Barranquilla Carnival begins.
March 4 March – President Uribe is in Doral, Florida, U.S.A speaking at U.S. Southern Command.
April 16 April – Carlos Castaño Gil, co-founder of the Peasant Self-Defenders of Córdoba and Urabá (ACCU) and leader in the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), is killed under uncertain circumstances.
May 5 May – Senior FARC member Simón Trinidad is sentenced to 35 years in prison for kidnapping and rebellion in Valledupar.
June 6 June – The Colombia national football team plays Uruguay's in Barranquilla in a FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL qualification game. Colombia wins 5–0.
July The AUC and Colombian Government begin peace talks; AUC leaders address Congress.
August 5 August – U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld receives a memo about recent reporting from the New York Times, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times on a declassified 1991 memo linking President Uribe to paramilitaries, drug trafficking, and Pablo Escobar. 5 August – Colombian soldiers assassinate union leaders Jorge Eduardo Prieto, Leonel Goyeneche, and Hector Alirio Martinez in Saravena, Arauca. The army initially claims that the victims were Marxist rebels killed in a battle.
September 6 September – The Attorney General's Office of Colombia admits that Colombian soldiers assassinated three union leaders on August 5 in Saravena. It orders the arrest of two soldiers, a civilian, and an army officer for the deaths of Jorge Eduardo Prieto, Leonel Goyeneche, and Hector Alirio Martinez.
November 12 November – Miss Colombia 2004 is held in Cartagena de Indias. Miss Atlántico Adriana Tarud is crowned the winner. 15 November – At 4:06 local time (9:06 UTC), a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits near Bajo Baudó, Chocó. There are no reported fatalities.
December 13 December – Rodrigo Granda affair: Foreign Minister of the FARC Rodrigo Granda is captured by Venezuelan Officials in Caracas, Venezuela and transferred to Cúcuta, Colombia.
Deaths 2 January – Hernando Caro Mendoza, music critic, journalist, and teacher (b. 1927). 11 February – Albeiro Usuriaga, footballer (b. 1966). 15 March – Amparo Arrebato, dancer (b. 1944). 1 April – Enrique Grau, painter and sculptor (b. 1920). 16 April – Carlos Castaño Gil, AUC leader (b. 1965). 26 April – Hernando Valencia Goelkel, critic and essayist (b. 1928). 27 April – María Teresa Benavídez Díaz, catholic nun (b. 1956). 19 May – Manuel J. Bernal, pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and orchestra director (b. 1924). 4 June – Tirso Vélez, poet, teacher, and politician (b. 1954). 27 July – Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Alandete, politician and lawyer (b. 1914).
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