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 ( es, Asamblea Nacional Constituyente de Colombia) was formed on February 5, 1991, to draft the Colombian Constitution of 1991. It was dissolved in June 1991, after the new document was adopted nationwide. B ...

and a councilor of the city of Bogotá between 1992 and 1996. Avella was a candidate for

Vice President A 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 vice president is on ...

in the 2014 presidential election for the

Alternative Democratic Pole The Alternative Democratic Pole ( Spanish: ''Polo Democrático Alternativo'' or PDA) is a left-wing political party in Colombia. It was founded as a political alliance of the Independent Democratic Pole (PDI) and the Democratic Alternative (AD ...

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

Colombian Senate 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 ...

Biography

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

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 ador ...

, Boyacá Department. At 16, Avella entered the National University of Colombia, 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. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

. 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 The Central Union of Workers (CUT; es, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores) is a Leftist trade union center in Colombia. It was formed in 1986, and is the country's largest union federation, with 546,000 members.American Center for International L ...

, or CUT. She joined the

Colombian Communist Party The Colombian Communist Party ( es, Partido Comunista Colombiano, 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, and changed i ...

, which became the Patriotic Union after the . Avella, together with Alfredo Vázquez Carrizosa, 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, rural counc ...

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

bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the ...

on the Autopista Norte 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