Julio César Turbay Ayala

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Julio César Turbay Ayala

Julio César Turbay Ayala (born June 18, 1916 in Bogotá ; † September 13, 2005 ibid) was a Colombian politician and from June 4, 1978 to May 31, 1982 President of Colombia.

Life

Julio César Turbay Ayala was the youngest of six children of Antonio Amín Turbay, a Lebanese immigrant, and his wife Rosaura Ayala, a farmer. He attended school until he graduated from high school ( Bachiller ), but did not study due to the family's financial circumstances. Because of his lack of academic education, he was portrayed as uneducated by the Colombian political elite and in the media. However, his sister Hortensia, who had become a lawyer, passed on her legal knowledge to him.

Turbay Ayala was married twice; first from 1948 with Nidia Quintero Turbay, with whom he had four children (Julio César, Diana (†), Claudia and María Victoria); and since 1986 with Amparo Canal.

Political career

Turbay Ayala was a member and later also chairman of the Colombian Liberal Party ( Spanish Partido Liberal Colombiano ). He began his political career at the age of 21 as mayor of Girardot ; From 1938 to 1942 he was a member of the regional parliament of the province of Cundinamarca .

From 1943 to 1949 Turbay Ayala was a member of the House of Representatives in the Colombian Parliament, which he temporarily chaired. After the dissolution of parliament in 1949, he worked for an opposition radio station; From 1957 to 1958 he was minister of mines and energy in the government of the dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla , then foreign minister of his country until 1961 and from 1962 to 1969 he was a member of the Senate, the second chamber of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia .

Turbay Ayala's career began in the diplomatic service in the late 1960s ; He was appointed Colombian Ambassador to the UN in 1967 (until 1969), followed by appointments as Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1973–1975) and the United States (1975–1976).

Presidency

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In 1978 Turbay Ayala narrowly won the presidential election against the conservative candidate Belisario Betancur Cuartas and replaced President Alfonso López Michelsen in office. During his presidency in 1980, the Dominican embassy in Bogotá was occupied by rebels of the M-19 group . 80 people were taken hostage for 61 days, including 16 ambassadors from the United States, Costa Rica , Mexico , Peru , Israel and Venezuela . Accordingly, the media fuss about this event was great, and the news world turned to Colombia.

Ayala avoided using military force to resolve the crisis, despite pressure from the military and political sectors , and eventually agreed to allow the M-19 to travel to Cuba . Allegedly, the rebels received $ 1 million in payment instead of the $ 50 million originally requested from the Colombian government for the release of the hostages. This conflict resolution is still used today by historians such as B. regarded as an outstanding achievement of the Ayala government.

On March 23, 1981, Turbay Ayala cut Colombia's diplomatic relations with Cuba after Colombian rebels testified that Fidel Castro supported them with money and education. Turbay Ayala was the only Latin American president who did not side with Argentina during the war for the Falkland Islands .

During Turbay Ayala's tenure, Colombian coal production was expanded; other projects of his government were the introduction of color television , the construction of the airport in Medellín and the construction of the highway between Medellín and Bogotá.

Since 1982

Julio César Turbay Ayala remained politically active even after his presidency ended. He was in the diplomatic service, so from 1987 he was ambassador to the Holy See. Between 1990 and 1994 he was elected chairman of the Liberal Party for the second time and in this role he accompanied the presidencies of César Gaviria Trujillo and Ernesto Samper Pizano .

On August 30, 1990, his daughter, Diana Turbay Quintero, was kidnapped by a mafia group founded by drug trafficker Pablo Escobar , los extraditables (Spanish for “the extraditables”), which tried to influence Colombian legislation to prevent its members from drug trafficking could be delivered to the USA. Diana Turbay Quintero was murdered on January 25, 1991 after an attempted liberation.

In recent years, Julio César Turbay Ayala has campaigned for the controversial re-election of the incumbent Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Terrorist Group Profiles. Ed. By VP GHW Bush 1988 in the Google book search
predecessor Office successor
Alfonso López Michelsen President of Colombia
1978–1982 		Belisario Betancur
personal data
SURNAME Turbay Ayala, Julio César
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1978–1982)
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Bogotá
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 2005
Place of death Bogotá