Andres Pastrana Arango (17 August 1954-) was President of Colombia from 7 August 1998 to 7 August 2002, succeeding Ernesto Samper and preceding Alvaro Uribe. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party.
Biography[]
Andres Pastrana Arango was born in Bogota, Colombia, the son of President Misael Pastrana Borrero. He studied at Our Lady of the Rosary University and Harvard University, and he became a well-known news anchor for Noticiero TV Hoy. In 1982, he was elected to the Bogota city council as a Colombian Conservative Party politician, and he served as Mayor of Bogota from 1988 to 1990. On 18 January 1988, he was kidnapped in Antioquia by the Medellin Cartel, which opposed the US-Colombia extradition treaty. Pastrana was rescued by the Colombian National Police a week later, returning to politics. In 1994, he narrowly lost the presidential election to Colombian Liberal Party candidate Ernesto Samper by just two points, and he accused Samper's campaign of being funded by the Cali Cartel; this was later proven to be true, and Pastrana defeated Samper for re-election in 1998. He began negotiations with the FARC and ELN rebels, and he provided them with a safe haven the size of Switzerland; he later ended the negotiations, and the conflict continued. Pastrana was criticized for his expensive pleasure trips and for his possible acceptance of bribes from the communist guerrillas. From 2005 to 2006, he served as ambassador to the United States, as President Alvaro Uribe believed that he could be key in ensuring that the USA continued sending military aid to Colombia.