Antonio José Navarro Wolff (born 9 July 1948) is an engineer, a former combatant and a

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n politician. Navarro used to be a former

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

and leader of the

19th of April Movement The 19th of April Movement ( es, Movimiento 19 de Abril), or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla organisation movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its ori ...

(M-19), a former guerrilla movement that operated in

in the 1970s and 1980s. After the

demobilization 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 militar ...

through a peace agreement of the M-19, Navarro and others formed the

M-19 Democratic Alliance The 19th of April Movement ( es, Movimiento 19 de Abril), or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla organisation movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its ori ...

, a political party of which Navarro became a leader of entering mainstream politics in Colombia. In 1990 he ran as a M-19 political candidate during the Colombian presidential elections finishing third and receiving 12.48% of the votes; he ran again unsuccessfully in the 1994 presidential election, and attempted to run for the

2006 presidential elections Presidential elections were held in Bulgaria on 22 October 2006, as decided on 27 July 2006 by the Bulgarian Parliament. The runoff took place on 29 October 2006, while the electoral campaign spanned 19 September – 20 October. At the election, ...

but lost the candidacy of his party during the

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. In 1991 he was elected to the National Constituent Assembly, of which became Co-President along with

Álvaro Gómez Hurtado Álvaro Gómez Hurtado (May 8, 1919 – November 2, 1995) was a Colombian lawyer, politician, journalist and active member of the Colombian Conservative Party. Gómez was a son of the former President of Colombia, Laureano Gómez. He is mostly ...

and

Horacio Serpa Uribe Horacio Serpa Uribe (4 January 1943 – 31 October 2020) was a Colombian lawyer, politician and Senator. Serpa ran as the Colombian Liberal Party candidate for President on three occasions; in 1998, 2002, and 2006. He previously served as co ...

; it was this Assembly that drafted the

Colombian Constitution of 1991 The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 ( es, Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Thursday, July 4, 1991, and is also ...

which remains the supreme law of the country. Navarro has also served in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, being elected to serve both in the

Chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

from 1998 to 2002, and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2014; and elected Mayor of

Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had app ...

serving from 1995 to 1998, and Governor of Nariño from 2008 to 2012.

Before M-19

Antonio José was born on 9 July 1948 in

to Rafael Navarro Uribe and María Emma Wolff Pizarro. In 1972, Navarro graduated as a sanitary engineer from the

University of Valle The University of Valle ( es, Universidad del Valle), also called Univalle, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based primarily in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It is the largest higher education inst ...

, after which he took postgraduate courses and eventually became a professor at the same university. He studied Environmental Engineering at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

, UK in 1976 on a scholarship from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

and the

International Development Research Center The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; french: Centre de recherches pour le développement international, ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation that funds research and innovation within and alongside developing region ...

(IDRC) of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. As a sanitary engineer, he was an adviser of the Social Medicine Department of the University of Valle (1972), coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Research Centre for Rural Development (CIMDER, 1972–1977), international adviser of the IDRC (1976–1978), Professor at the University of Valle (1972–1978), director of the Curriculum of Sanitary Engineering at the university, and a private consultant.

Militancy in M-19

At the end of the 1970s, he became a part of the guerilla group M-19. Within the M-19, Navarro ascended to second-in-command of the organization. One of the most controversial episodes of M-19 was the take-over of the Palace of Justice by armed guerrillas. They pretended to demand a trial of President

Belisario Betancur Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. His presidency was noted for its at ...

for violation of the peace accords. During the operation led by security forces to retake the Palace, a large group of guerrillas, civilians, magistrates and soldiers lost their lives— at least 53 civilian casualties were registered, including several members of Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice. The siege has been catalogued as a holocaust and massacre by the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...

Peace negotiations

Navarro coordinated peace negotiations for this movement during President Betancur' government in 1984 and 1985. He was named head of the Commission to organize the National Dialogue, along with Vera Grabe, Alfonso Jacquin, Andrés Almarales and Israel Santamaría. Talks were broken off, truces failed and the peace process died. In May 1985, the talks collapsed after an attack in a cafeteria in the city of

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

, when a soldier threw a grenade that exploded 10 cm away from Navarro, who was severely wounded. The facial nerve that controls the left part the jaw was destroyed and he lost his left leg below the knee. M-19 received news that Navarro was to be attacked in the hospital, so he was evacuated to Mexico where the leg was amputated. He received a

prosthesis In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

in Cuba. Later,

Carlos Pizarro Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

carried out peace negotiations with the government of President

Virgilio Barco Virgilio Barco Vargas (17 September 1921 – 20 May 1997) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 27th President of Colombia serving from 7 August 1986 to 7 August 1990. Early life Barco was born in Cúcuta in the Nort ...

. The peace agreement was on signed 11 March 1990. After signing the peace agreement, M-19 nominated its leader,

Carlos Pizarro Leongómez Carlos Pizarro Leongómez (6 June 1951 – 26 April 1990) was the fourth commander of the Colombian guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (''Movimiento 19 de Abril'') (M-19). Pizarro later ran for president of Colombia after the demobilization ...

to run as candidate for the presidency, but he was assassinated on a commercial flight from Bogotá to Barranquilla on 26 April 1990. After Pizarro's burial, the leaders of M-19 met and decided to continue with the peace process. They nominated Navarro for the presidency, who came in third in the balloting.

Political life

In the 2000s, M-19 entered a leftist coalition of parties called 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 Navarro became its Secretary General. Antonio Navarro has been mayor of the city of

, Congressman of Colombia and was one of the three collegiate presidents 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 ...

writing the

. He has served as Colombian Minister of Health. In 2006, he ran for the

presidency of Colombia A presidency is an Administration (government), administration or the Executive (government), executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of President (government title), president of a state or nat ...

, but lost to

Carlos Gaviria Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

in the party primaries. He then ran for the

and was elected. After he is elected governor of Nariño of the PDA. Later after the election of

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's ...

as mayor of Bogotá, Navarro was appointed Secretary of Government which takes turn as spokesman for the mayor. However resignation for personal reasons in late March 2012 in charge subsequently assuming the Progressive Movement spokesperson. He is also a member of Washington D.C. based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue.

Popular culture

Navarro is portrayed by the actor Fabio Rubiano as the character of Marco Navia in TV series ''

Escobar, el patrón del mal ''Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'' (international title: ''Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord''; also known as ''Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'') is a 2012 Colombian telenovela produced and broadcast on Caracol TV, based on a true story about the lif ...

''.

References

Polo Democratico Alternativo - Antonio Navarro Wolff

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro Wolff, Antonio Jose 1948 births Living people Colombian people of German descent University of Valle alumni Alumni of Loughborough University Colombian industrial engineers University of Valle faculty 19th of April Movement members Colombian amputees Candidates for President of Colombia Members of the Constituent Assembly of Colombia Mayors of places in Colombia People from Pasto, Colombia Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Governors of Nariño Department Members of the Inter-American Dialogue