Belisario Betancur

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Belisario Betancur (2009)

Belisario Betancur Cuartas (born February 4, 1923 in Amagá , Antioquia ; † December 7, 2018 ) was a Colombian politician . He was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986 .

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Belisario Betancur was the son of Rosendo Betancur and Ana Otilia Cuartas. From 1941 to 1947 he studied law and economics at the Pontifical Bolivariana University in Medellín , where he received his doctorate in 1947 on " The Public Economic Order " . After completing his doctorate, Betancur worked as a journalist for several Colombian daily and weekly newspapers ; He also wrote books on economic, political, linguistic and sociological topics and founded the publishing house Editorial Tercer Mundo . Betancur received honorary degrees from the Universities of Colorado and Washington. In 1963 Betancur founded the National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF) , which he chaired for a year.

In 1945 Belisario Betancur married Rosa Helena Alvarez, who died before him; they had three children. Betancur died in December 2018 at the age of 95.

Political career

In 1945 Belisario Betancur began his political career as a member of the Conservative Party of Colombia, Partido Conservador Colombiano, in the regional parliament of Antioquia (until 1947). In 1950 he was elected to the House of Representatives for the province of Cundinamarca .

During the reign of the dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla from 1953 to 1957, Betancur was a member of the constituent assembly. There he denied the legitimacy of Rojas Pinillas' presidency and stood up for the conservative politician Laureano Gómez , for which he was later charged and sentenced to prison.

After the end of the military dictatorship Rojas Pinillas, Betancur continued his political career. In 1963 he became Minister of Labor in the Valencian government of Guillermo León , and from 1976 to 1978 he was Colombian ambassador to Spain . Betancur ran unsuccessfully in the 1970 and 1978 presidential elections; on May 30, 1982 he was finally elected President of Colombia.

Presidency

During his tenure as president, Betancur campaigned primarily for peace negotiations between the various actors in the Colombian conflict ; he negotiated a peace agreement with the main guerrilla groups FARC , ELN and EPL . On November 6, 1985 , another guerrilla group, M-19 , stormed the Palace of Justice in Bogotá , putting an end to the negotiations. Betancur opposed drug trafficking with less willingness to negotiate; he opposed the integration of the “ narcos ” into the country's official political system. In 1984, with the murder of Betancurs Minister of Justice, a new spiral of violence began; the private armies of the drug traffickers gained influence.

Betancur was more successful in its efforts to support the peace process in Central America (particularly Nicaragua and El Salvador ). In 1983, Betancur was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Peace and International Cooperation for his mediation in the context of the Contadora por la Paz en Centroamérica initiative he founded .

Another major concern of Betancurs during his presidency was the decentralization of Colombia's administrative and financial management. The municipalities were granted extensive autonomy over the use of taxes; in addition, the direct election of mayors was introduced, who had previously been appointed by the provincial governors. Under Betancur, coal mining began in the north of the country; in addition, two new regional television channels, Teleantioquia and Telecaribe , were created.

Since 1986

After his term in office, Belisario Betancur continued his efforts for the peace process in Central America; he was chairman of the Truth Commission for El Salvador. In addition, he devoted himself increasingly to his writing; until his death he also wrote articles for Colombian newspapers.

Betancur was Vice President of the Club of Rome in Latin America and Chairman of the Santillana for Latin America Foundation , which is very close to the Santillana publishing house. He was President of the Pan-American Health Office .

Works (selection)

  • Colombia cara a cara (1961)
  • Imagen del cambio social en Colombia (1966)
  • A pesar de la pobreza (1967)
  • La ayuda externa (1970)
  • Despierta Colombia (1970)
  • Populismo (1970)
  • La otra Colombia (1975)
  • Dinero, precios, salarios (1975)
  • El compromiso de la paz: informe al Congreso de Colombia 1982–1986 (1986)
  • El homo sapiens se extravió en America Latina (1990)
  • El lenguaje como expresión de la historia de Antioquia (1991)

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Julio César Turbay Ayala President of Colombia
1982–1986 		Virgilio Barco
personal data
SURNAME Betancur, Belisario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Betancur Cuartas, Belisario
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982–1986)
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Amagá , Antioquia
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 2018