Historica Wiki
Advertisement
Luis Carlos Galan

Luis Carlos Galan (29 September 1943-18 August 1989) was the founder of the New Liberalism political movement in Colombia and a senator from 20 July 1978 to 20 July 1989. Galan twice attempted to run for president, but he was assassinated by Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel in 1989.

Biography[]

Galan president

Galan running for president, 1981

Luis Carlos Galan was born on 29 September 1943 in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and his family moved to Bogota in 1949. He attended a rally against President Laureano Gomez in 1950 while he was in middle school, and in 1957 he took part in the student protests against Gustavo Rojas Pinilla's dictatorship. His liberal radicalism cooled off when he attended the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota in 1960, and he began working for the El Tiempo magazine on his graduation in 1965. Galan became a well-known journalist and columnist, and in 1970 he was appointed Minister of National Education. In 1972 he was made ambassador to Italy, and in 1978 he became a senator for the Colombian Liberal Party before forming the New Liberalism party in 1979. In both 1981 and 1989 he announced his candidacy for president, rejoining the main Liberal Party with the goal of becoming its nominee.

Assassination[]

Galan death

Galan's death onstage

Galan supported the US-Colombia extradition treaty, which threatened drug lords with prison time in America. Drug lord Pablo Escobar responded by sending him a letter expressing his anger at the United States' "violation of Colombia's sovereignty". Galan won a major victory with Carlos Lehder's arrest in 1984, proving that extradition worked; Galan would use extradition as his battle cry to propel himself to the presidency. Galan was way ahead in the polls, and the outcome of the election seemed clear. He received several death threats, ending with his 18 August 1989 assassination as he walked onstage to give a speech to 10,000 people in Soacha, Colombia. Galan's campaign adviser Cesar Gaviria advised him not to go onstage, as a bulletproof vest might not be able to save him, but the brave Galan decided to go anyways. Sure enough, an assassin with a submachine gun, Jaime Rueda, shot him just below the vest, killing him on the stage. His death was a blow to the morale of the Colombian people, who had lost their hero.

Advertisement