Aída Yolanda Avella Esquivel, or Aída Yolanda Abella Esquivel (born 23 January 1949), is a Colombian pedagogue, psychologist, and politician belonging to the Patriotic Union party. She was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of Colombia The Constituent Assembly of Colombia () was formed on February 5, 1991, to draft the Colombian Constitution of 1991. It was dissolved in July 1991, after the new document was adopted nationwide. Background Throughout the later half of the 20th ...

and a councilor of the city of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

between 1992 and 1996. Avella was a candidate for

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

in the 2014 presidential election for the

Alternative Democratic Pole The Alternative Democratic Pole ( Spanish: ''Polo Democrático Alternativo'' or PDA) is a left-wing, democratic socialist and camilist political party in Colombia, active from 2005 to the present. In 2022 it was successful at the polls and fo ...

and Patriotic Union alliance. In the 2018 parliamentarian election, Avella was elected to the Colombian Senate.

Biography

Aída Yolanda Avella Esquivel was born on 23 January 1949 to a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

family in

Sogamoso Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ado ...

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

. At 16, Avella entered the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

, where she graduated with a degree in

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. After graduating, she entered the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, where she became a union leader and helped form the Central Union of Workers, or CUT. She joined the

Colombian Communist Party The Colombian Communist Party (, PCC) is a legal communist party in Colombia. It was founded in 1930 as the Communist Party of Colombia, at which point it was the Colombian section of the Comintern. The party is led by Jaime Caycedo and publi ...

, which became the Patriotic Union after the . Avella, together with

Alfredo Vázquez Carrizosa Alfredo Vazquez Carrizosa (9 February 1909 – 19 December 2001) was a Colombian lawyer, politician and diplomat, born in Bogotá, Cundinamarca. He was the foreign minister of Colombia from 1970 to 1974. Carrizosa was the son of General Alfredo ...

, was elected to the

in 1991. The next year, she was elected in the to the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

and was reelected two years later. On 7 May 1996, assailants attacked Avella's vehicle with a

bazooka The Bazooka () is a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", th ...

on the

Autopista Norte Autopista Norte, also called Autopista paseo de los libertadores (Way of the Liberators Highway), is a major road in Bogotá, Colombia, running through the northern part of the city to its southern end at Avenida Caracas. Names The road was o ...

in Bogotá. Avella has unharmed by the attack, but fled the country for Switzerland a week later. Following her reelection to the Senate in 2018, Avella announced her intent to push forward a universal pensions bill.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avella, Aida Living people 1949 births People from Sogamoso 21st-century Colombian women politicians 21st-century Colombian politicians Colombian activists Colombian women activists Colombian jurists Patriotic Union (Colombia) politicians National University of Colombia alumni