Alberto Lleras Camargo (3 July 1906 – 4 January 1990) was the
20th President of Colombia (1958–1962), and the 1st
Secretary General of the Organization of American States
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States is the highest position within the Organization of American States.
According to the Charter of the Organization of American States:
Secretaries General of the OAS
Assistant S ...
(1948–1954). A journalist and
liberal party politician, he also served as
Minister of Government,
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 as
Minister of National Education in the administrations of President
Alfonso López Pumarejo. He briefly attended 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 ...
in Bogotá to study politics, but dropped out later to pursue journalism.
Lleras Camargo served as congressman of Colombia. He was also a cousin of later president
Carlos Lleras Restrepo. He died in 1990 after suffering a long illness.
Early Political Career and First Presidency
He attended the traditional
Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario. In 1929, he was elected deputy assemblyman on the
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
city council, his first entrance into politics. The following year he became Secretary of the Executive Committee of the
Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Colombiano; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Sociali ...
and in 1931, he was elected to the
Colombian Chamber of Representatives. That same year, he became the first Liberal to preside over the Chamber in more than forty years.
After
Alfonso López Pumarejo was elected President of Colombia in 1934, Lleras Camargo was named Cabinet Secretary. In 1935, he became the Minister of Government, a position he occupied until the end of López Pumarejo’s presidential term in 1938. In 1938, he founded the newspaper ''El Liberal'', which promoted López Pumarejo’s re-election. In 1941, he returned to and once again presided over the Chamber of Representatives. When López Pumarejo was re-elected president in 1942, he once again named Lleras Camargo the Minister of Government. Aside from a brief interruption in 1943, when Lleras Camargo became the Colombian Ambassador to the United States, he occupied that position until 1944, when intense political instability disrupted López Pumarejo’s presidency. In July 1944, after López Pumarejo stepped down, Lleras Camargo fought off a coup attempt against
Darío Echandía, who had been temporarily designated as president.
In 1945, he became Minister of Foreign Relations, and in that capacity, represented Colombia at the Chapultepec Conference and the
United Nations Conference on International Organization
The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Calif ...
in San Francisco, which created the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
. But that same year, the Senate named designated him as Acting President, a position he occupied until 1946, when Conservative
Mariano Ospina Pérez was elected president. At only thirty-nine years-old, he became one of the youngest Acting Presidents in Colombian history. During his short year in office, the Greater Colombian Merchant Fleet was founded and the Constitutional Reform of 1945 completed.
Founding of the Organization of American States
After leaving the presidency in 1946, Lleras Camargo founded the highly regarded news magazine ''
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 ...
''. Owing to the respect and prestige he had earned as Minister of Foreign Relations and President of Colombia, he was named Director of the Pan American Union in 1947. He launched a restructuring effort, which culminated in the founding the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 Apri ...
in 1948. Lleras Camargo served as the first General Secretary between 1948-1949 and later completed a full five-year term between 1950 and 1954. During his second term, the organization became more consolidated as a hemispheric organization, with increased continental participation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lleras Camargo, Alberto
1906 births
1990 deaths
Alberto
Colombian people of Spanish descent
Politicians from Bogotá
Colombian Liberal Party politicians
Colombian journalists
Male journalists
Presidential Designates of Colombia
Colombian Ministers of National Education
Foreign ministers of Colombia
Colombian Ministers of Government
Ambassadors of Colombia to the United States
Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners
Presidents of Colombia
Secretaries General of the Organization of American States
People from Bogotá
Del Rosario University alumni
20th-century journalists