Bombing unnerves wealthy in Bogota

BOGOTA, Colombia -- As tee time approached at the Club los Buhos for Mario Cespedes and his three golfing partners on Sunday, it was a perfectly normal day, on the surface. The sun shone brightly at 8 a.m., the greens were immaculately groomed, the caddies were decked out in bright blue jumpsuits and a hearty lunch awaited in the club's restaurant.

But as Cespedes, 69, a retired surgeon smartly dressed in pressed gray slacks and a cotton vest, prepared to tee off at the club on Bogota's outskirts, he wondered whether things would ever be the same.

On Friday, the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, detonated a 330-pound bomb in the parking garage of the elite Nogal social and sports club, killing 32 people, wounding at least 160 and sending shivers down the backs of the upper classes here.

"This was directed at the business classes, because that is where the businessmen were," said Cespedes as his golf companions nodded in agreement. "It was a club of exclusivity, and such a strike was sent to demonstrate that they are going to be military targets."

Cespedes added, "Now all of us who belong to clubs are worried because we could be in their sights."

On Sunday, as investigators and rescue crews sifted through rubble for clues and bodies, Colombians foresaw a swift shift in guerrilla tactics that may now make the upper classes vulnerable to direct attack. Though the rich here have always run the risk of kidnapping or extortion, most had long enjoyed a certain level of invulnerability unknown to the poor peasants who usually suffer in Colombia's 39-year-old conflict.

"The situation has now changed," said Luis Sepulveda, 64, a retired engineer, taking a break after a successful putt. "I will do the same things I did before, but I will be more careful. I will not go to risky places, to certain restaurants, or take long car trips, or go to shopping malls on certain days."

As Colombians took stock of the grisly turn, the reaction in Bogota seemed to be one of collective rage and fear, from both the rich and the poor. Though bombings and political violence are not unknown, this city of 6 million prides itself on having avoided much of the chaos that has gripped the rest of the country.

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