On July 29, Óscar Andrés Plata Silva would turn 41 years old. Only that hitmen on the afternoon of this Wednesday, May 22, took his life while he was in his vehicle in the Comuneros neighborhood of Bucaramanga.
The civil engineer was married and the father of three minors: two boys and a girl. He lived in the Ruitoque sector with his family and was the owner of the company ‘Construcciones y Aligeramientos de Santander’.
However, despite the life of comfort that he currently had, according to his family and friends, Óscar Andrés achieved it with determination, work and dedication. For his acquaintances he was an example of improvement.
The engineer lived his childhood and adolescence in the El Pablón neighborhood, a humble town north of Bucaramanga. His cousin is the current president of the Community Action Board, Juan Carlos Plata. He remembers him as a kind man who got ahead with his studies.
“It was an example of improvement. He was an only child and his parents are still alive. He was an excellent husband and gave everything for his three children. He never had threats, he was an excellent professional who carried out the works he built with excellence. “He had contracts with public entities and individuals,” said Juan Carlos.
Did they kill him so they wouldn’t pay him?
The only hypothesis regarding the murder of Óscar Andrés Plata Silva would be financial debts. According to his relatives, individuals who hired him owed him millionaire sums of money. His loved ones believe that they had him killed so as not to pay him.
“We didn’t know about threats, but in March it received the first attack. He didn’t count much so as not to worry his family, but we believe that that would be the cause. Many individuals owed him money, it was a lot of money,” said one of his relatives who requested that his identity be kept secret.
That’s how it was, on March 20, 2024, Plata Silva was in a store on Carrera 32 and Calle 28 in the La Aurora neighborhood of the capital of Santander. According to the information provided at that time, two criminals were traveling on an NKD motorcycle and approached to allegedly take away his cell phone.
After a struggle and threatening him with a firearm, the victim resisted and was injured with a shot to the chest. There he worked on the construction of the UIS Faculty of Health building.
What do the authorities say?
The authorities have not yet confirmed the motives for the murder of the civil engineer that occurred on Carrera 10 and Calle 18. There he received four gunshot wounds on the afternoon of this Wednesday, May 22.
He was with his personal escort, Hermes Guiza Nova, a 46-year-old man, retired chief mayor of the National Police who suffered a wound to his right shoulder while trying to prevent the murder of Óscar Plata.
“They left the office located on Carrera 19 and Calle 10, then they headed in the Chevrolet Joy vehicle with license plates KXM-118, owned by the deceased. The bodyguard was driving when they were approached by two individuals who were riding a motorcycle. The grillman unholstered his firearm and shot the victim. Seriously injured, the driver took him to the Santander University Hospital where he died,” the police report stated.
The guard is stable. In the reaction of the uniformed Police, one of the alleged hitmen was found who had a gunshot wound to the back. This is a 33-year-old Venezuelan citizen.
A motorcycle with license plate CWT-64F, abandoned by the murderers in the La Juventud neighborhood, north of Bucaramanga, was also located and immobilized.
An additional detail that should be highlighted in the authorities’ report was that a relative assured the Sijin uniformed officers that they owed him $1.2 billion pesos for a construction project in the La Aurora neighborhood sector.
