Santos Says Colombia Car Bomb Was ‘Terrorist Act’

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Colombian President Juan Manual Santos said a blast from a car bomb that shook the capital this morning was a “terrorist act” that “won’t intimidate” the nation.

The pre-dawn explosion occurred in Bogota at the intersection of 67th Street and 7th Avenue, in front of the studios of Caracol Radio and five blocks from the city’s financial district and the stock exchange. No fatalities were reported.

The blast injured as many as nine people, Hector Zambrano, Bogota’s health secretary, said in comments broadcast by Caracol television.

“We can’t let down our guard,” Santos said while visiting the site of the blast. “They won’t intimidate us. They want us to fall into that trap.”

Santos took office Aug. 7 vowing to maintain the outgoing government´s offensive against Marxist rebels, whose half- century campaign to topple Colombia’s democracy claims hundreds of civilian lives every year.

The blast blew out the windows of nearby businesses including branches of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Bancolombia SA. Residents picked glass as helicopters flew overhead and soldiers in camouflage patrolled inside cordoned off streets nearby.

A twisted black ball of metal remained from the car, which held 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of explosives, Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno said.

No Structural Damage

The blast caused no structural damage to buildings, Santos said.

Authorities yesterday deactivated a car bomb in the city of Neiva, in Huila province, newspaper El Espectador reported.

In 2003, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia killed 37 people and injured 200 with a car bomb at social club El Nogal. Military strikes have since weakened guerrilla groups, helping to fuel international investment in oil and mines and gains by the Colombian peso.

The peso has rallied 13 percent this year against the U.S. dollar, the best performance among 26 emerging market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The peso strengthened by 0.1 percent to 1799.25 per dollar at 9:28 a.m. New York time.

The attack may be “designed to test the mettle” of the new government, analysts Roberto Melzi and Jimena Zuniga at Barclays Capital said today in a report. It won’t affect the economy or the currency, according to the report.