Álvaro Araújo Castro (born 7 November 1967) is a Colombian economist and former actor and

Senator of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Senado de la República de Colombia) is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the House of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non- ...

. A

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician, and leader of the ALAS-Team Colombia political movement, he was arrested and jailed in 2007 for participating in parapolitics. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was also a Member of the

Chamber of Representatives of Colombia The Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: ''Cámara de Representantes'') is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia. It has 172 members elected to four-year terms. Electoral system According to the Colombian Constitution, the Chamber of Re ...

from 1994 to 2001.

Career

After graduating as

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

from the Externado University in Bogotá, 27-year-old Araújo ran for the Chamber of Representatives, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and was elected. Two years later, along with his father, he founded a dissident political movement called

Alternative for Social Advance The Alternative for Social Advance (''Alternativa de Avanzada Social'') is a political party in Colombia. At the last legislative elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an indivi ...

(ALAS). After his second term in the Chamber, he ran for the Senate receiving more than half of his votes from the department of Cesar and Bogotá, where he got the highest vote for someone from the

Caribbean Region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in t ...

for the

Presidency of Colombia A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

. The voter turnout in the Cesar raised suspicion, because of the influence of paramilitary forces in the area. In May 2005, ''

Semana ''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in Colombia. History ''Semana'' was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo (who would become president of Colombia in 1958) and that folded in 1961. It was relaunched by journalist Felipe ...

'' published an article revealing a possible plan by paramilitary forces to influence elections. The Department of Cesar was divided into two zones, the G-8, formed by 8 municipalities in central Cesar Department where revenues from mining industry are high, and in which Senator Mauricio Pimiento and Representative Jorge Enrique Ramírez got most of their votes, and the G-11, formed mostly by southern municipalities where Representative Miguel Duran Gelvis and Senator Araújo had a high turnout. Araújo responded to these accusations by citing years of hard work politics and his family's influence in the region. He also pointed out that results, like the ones in Tamalameque where he received more than 70% of the total votes, were easily explained because of the influence of his third runner-up, Ricardo Chajín Florián, who had been Mayor of Tamalameque. In the Senate, Araújo was a member of the Fifth Commission of the Senate in which he promoted

Hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...

projects and proposed the Mines Code which is cited for duplicating the production of coal in Colombia. He was also a proponent of equal ownership rights for gay couples, and integrating

demobilized Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

members of the Cacique Nutibara Bloc into the Armed Forces of Colombia if they met certain judicial requisites. He was temporarily replaced in the Senate from 17 August 2004 to 17 February 2005 by Ricardo Chajín Florián, the third-runner up in his list.

Parapolitica scandal

On January 19, 2006 Araújo was first accused by then candidate for Senate

Gustavo Petro Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian economist, politician, and former guerrilla fighter who is the current president of Colombia since 2022. After taking office, Petro was considered by analysts as Colombia' ...

, of having ties with paramilitary groups headed by the now demobilized paramilitary leader

Jorge 40 Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, (aka Jorge 40 his nom de guerre; born 19 November 1960) was born in Valledupar, Colombia. He was the leader of the Northern Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. He demobilized with his two thousand men strong grou ...

and his men. The Supreme Court of Colombia investigated the accusations in what became known as the

Parapolitics scandal The Colombian parapolitics scandal or "parapolítica" in Spanish (a combination of the words '' paramilitar'' and '' política'') refers to the 2006–present Colombian congressional scandal in which several congressmen and other politicians hav ...

, as a result, on 16 February 2007, Araújo was arrested along with other senators for having ties to illegal paramilitary groups.

Accomplice in kidnapping

Arising from his investigation in parapolitics, Araújo was also formally accused of the kidnapping and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

of former Mayor of Valledupar, Elías Ochoa Daza's brother Víctor. He was found guilty of the charges and sentenced to 9 years and 3 months of prison on March 18, 2010.

Family

Álvaro was born on 7 November 1967 to Álvaro Araújo Noguera and María Lourdes Castro, and he is married to Sandra Estevao. Of his four siblings, Sergio and Ana María were implicated in the parapolitics scandal, María Consuelo was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, and Sara Araújo Castro is a journalist.

Acting spell

Álvaro represented Miguel Casares in the Colombian drama ''Escalona'' aired in the beginning of the nineties and produced by

Caracol Televisión Caracol Televisión (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal RCN ...

References

External links

Caracol.com.co - Gustavo Petro acusa al senador Álvaro Araújo de tener vínculos paramilitares

* ttp://www.terra.com.co/elecciones_2006/partidos/10-01-2006/nota271015.html terra.com.co Alas Equipo Colombia - Perfiles de sus líderes: Álvaro Araújo {{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo Castro, Alvaro 1967 births Living people People from Santa Marta Alvaro 20th-century Colombian economists Colombian prisoners and detainees Colombian Liberal Party politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Colombian parapolitics scandal Team Colombia politicians Colombian politicians convicted of crimes