Alfonso Gómez Méndez (born 19 August 1949) served as the 9th Minister of Justice and Law of Colombia. Alfonso was born on 19 August 1949 in

Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, Tolima. He attended Universidad Externado de Colombia where he graduated in Law in 1971. On 9 March 1989, the

Senate 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-r ...

elected Gómez to succeed Horacio Serpa Uribe as Inspector General of Colombia. Gómez, who at the time was serving as Chamber Representative, was nominated by President Virgilio Barco Vargas. On 23 November 1990 Gómez resigned citing political pressure; the Deputy Inspector, the Assistant Inspector, the Secretary General, and 23 Delegate Inspectors, all presented their resignation in solidarity with the Inspector General. The backlash from the Senate and others in military and right-wing political circles against Gómez and his department, stemmed from the ruling of the Office of the Inspector General against Army General Jesús Armando Arias Cabrales and Army Colonel Edilberto Sánchez Rubiano for their role during the 1985 Palace of Justice siege. In January 1991, following his resignation as Inspector General, President

César Gaviria Trujillo Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ce ...

appointed Gómez Ambassador of Colombia to Austria. While in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Gómez also served as Permanent Representative of Colombia to the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

. In 1996 Gómez was elected to the

International Narcotics Control Board The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent treaty body, one of the four treaty-mandated bodies under international drug control law (alongside the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNODC on behalf of the Secretary-General, an ...

for a five-year term. Shortly after, on 29 May 1997 the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia elected Gómez to serve as the 3rd

Attorney General of Colombia The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative a ...

to succeed

Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento (born 2 October 1949) is a Colombian lawyer and politician. Biography Alfonso Sarmiento was born in Bucaramanga, Santander to Roberto Valdivieso Serrano and Mercedes Sarmiento Suárez. He attended ''Divino Niño'' sc ...

. Gómez was elected out of a ternary slate presented by President

Ernesto Samper Pizano Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) is a Colombian politician. Samper is a member of the influential Samper family. He served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. From 2014 to 2017 he served as ...

that also included the names of Saturia Esguerra Portocarrero and Manuel Santiago Urueta Ayola. In 1998, Board President Hamid Ghodse asked Gómez to step down citing concerns of a possible conflict of interest; Gómez refused this request, but ultimately resigned citing his "extremely tight work schedule".

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez Mendez, Alfonso 1949 births Living people People from Chaparral, Tolima Universidad Externado de Colombia alumni Academic staff of Universidad Externado de Colombia 20th-century Colombian lawyers Colombian Liberal Party politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Inspectors General of Colombia Ambassadors of Colombia to Austria Attorneys General of Colombia Ministers of Justice and Law of Colombia