| Alfonso López Michelsen | |
|---|---|
| 32nd President of Colombia | |
| In office August 7, 1974 – August 7, 1978 |
|
| Preceded by | Misael Pastrana Borrero |
| Succeeded by | Julio César Turbay Ayala |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office August 14, 1968 – August 7, 1970 |
|
| President | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
| Preceded by | Germán Zea Hernández |
| Succeeded by | Alfredo Vázquez Carrizosa |
| 1st Governor of the Department of Cesar | |
| In office December 21, 1967 – August 14, 1968 |
|
| President | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Luis Roberto García |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 30, 1913 Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia |
| Died | July 11, 2007 (aged 94) Bogotá, DC, Colombia |
| Resting place | Central Cemetery of Bogotá |
| Nationality | Colombian |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Cecilia Caballero Blanco |
| Relations | Alfonso López Pumarejo (father) |
| Children | Alfonso López Caballero Juan Manuel López Caballero Felipe López Caballero |
| Alma mater | Our Lady of the Rosary University University of Santiago, Chile Georgetown University |
| Occupation | Journalist, professor, politician, writer |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Alfonso López Michelsen (June 30, 1913 - July 11, 2007) was a Colombian politician, lawyer and journalist. Lopez Michelsen was President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was the son of Alfonso López Pumarejo, who was also president of Colombia from 1934 to 1938, and once again from 1942 to 1945. He died in Bogotá during the early hours of July 11, 2007 of a heart attack.
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López was the son of former two time president of Colombia, Alfonso López Pumarejo. He was born and raised in Bogotá. He studied at the Gimnasio Moderno School and later in other cities; Paris, Brussels, London and Santiago de Chile. He graduated with a degree in law from the Universidad del Rosario.
During his father's presidency, López maintained a low profile in politics and instead focused on becoming a university professor at the Universidad del Rosario. [1]
In 1938, López married Cecilia Caballero Blanco in Bogotá. They moved to the outskirts of Bogotá in a hacienda in the then municipality of Engativá, Cundinamarca Department (nowadays a Locality of Bogotá). Settled in this town, López had his first experience with politics becoming a town councilman. During this time, his fellow councilmen included Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and Julio César Turbay Ayala
In 1959, a group of his former students founded the Liberal Revolutionary Movement (MRL) as a reaction to the pact between his party, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party to create the National Front. Lopez Michelsen was then offered the leadership of the newly created MRL and he accepted becoming a presidential candidate for the 1962 presidential elections. López lost the election by a large margin to Conservative candidate Guillermo León Valencia.
In 1966, López was elected as a senator and negotiated the return of the MRL to the Liberal Party in 1967. This same year López traveled to the city of Valledupar after being appointed by President Carlos Lleras Restrepo as the first governor of Cesar Department, a newly created province in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia. López traced his grandmothers' family ancestors from this town "the Pumarejos". During those years, he also helped to create the Vallenato Legend Festival (now one of the most important Colombian cultural events) along with vallenato composer Rafael Escalona and journalist Consuelo Araújo. He served as governor of Cesar from December 21, 1967 until August 14, 1968.
A year later, he was then appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs until the presidential term of President Carlos Lleras Restrepo ended in 1970.
In 1974, López was selected by the Liberal Party in as their candidate for president after defeating former president Carlos Lleras Restrepo in the party presidential primaries with the support of former candidate Julio César Turbay. He won the general election by a large margin against the Conservative Party candidate Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and the ANAPO candidate, María Eugenia Rojas.
In his inaugural speech on August 7, 1974, López was mostly remembered for calling the border disputed area in the Gulf of Venezuela by its native name "Gulf of Coquibacoa" given by the wayuus. On September 14, 1977 in Bogotá a bloody riot started in all sections of the city, the riot was called The National Civic Strike. The motivations were in the situation of food shortage that field, the high unemployment figures and the negative the government of President López to negotiate the labor contract documents. The September 14 were work stoppages of oil workers, Cement, of Palma and teachers who opposed the deployment status of teaching led by the Minister Hernando Durán Dussán. In the support of the strike converged sectors of the left: the Communist Party, and MOIR Revolutionary Socialist Union with the industry Ospino Pastrana's Conservative Party, a strange confluence only be explained by the new scenario national front post. The two days riot left a death toll of 80 people, and 2000 people injured.
Upon the end of his term in 1978, he again became the leader of Liberal Party. He ran for president again in 1982, but was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate, Belisario Betancur.
He continued to actively participate in the decision making of the Liberal Party until the early 1990s when he decided to withdraw from political activity. He was a regular columnist for the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo which drew attention to many critical issues. For this reason he was called "el hombre que pone a pensar al pais" (Spanish for "The man who made the country think") [2]
In 2006, he returned to political life after the Liberal Party went through a crisis after the elections of that year, which despite finishing in third place in the presidential election and losing seats in Congress, still represented a decisive political force in the Colombian congress.
Lopez Michelsen died in Bogotá on July 11, 2007 after suffering a heart attack. [3]
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