It beat the other finalist team, led by New York-based architects Rafael Vinoly and Frederic Schwartz, which proposed two decorative steel towers in memory of the twin towers destroyed in the 11 September 2001 hijacked plane attacks.
National pride is one reason: even law-abiding Colombians are still apt to bridle at the humiliating memory of Mr Lehder, shackled hand and foot, being bundled on to a plane by United States marshals.