Benjamín Herrera Cortés (18 October 1853 – 29 February 1924) was a Colombian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, born in

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 ...

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 ...

. In 1875, while he was a student at the University of Cauca, Herrera joined the liberal army under César Conto to topple the conservative governor of Antioquia. He fought in the civil war for a decade until 1885, when the liberal forces were defeated and he decided to settle down in

Pamplona, Colombia Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is also the fifth most populated municipality in the department. History Colonization The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as Nueva Pamplona del Valle del ...

. In 1895 he returned to the political scene, gaining resources for a new liberal army against a new conservative governor. In the

Thousand Days' War The Thousand Days' War ( es, Guerra de los Mil Días) was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Colombian Liberal Party, Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party (Colomb ...

he became the main military strategist on the liberal side of the war, and, second to

Rafael Uribe Uribe Rafael Victor Zenón Uribe Uribe (born April 12, 1859 – died October 15, 1914, in Bogotá) was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army. Uribe Uribe is best known for his political ideas in favor of the est ...

he became the main figure of Colombian liberalism. After the war, in 1905, he was elected to the

Chamber of Representatives of Colombia The Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: ''Cámara de Representantes'') is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia. It has 172 members elected to four-year terms. Electoral system According to the Colombian Constitution, the Chamber of Re ...

. In 1905 and early 1906, he commanded the Colombian army forces confronting Venezuela, In 1909 Herrera became a

senator 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 ...

, and in 1914 he became

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

under the government of Jose Vicente Concha. In 1922 he was the presidential candidate for 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 ...

. He founded the Universidad Libre in 1923 (Free University). Herrera died in 1924.

References

1853 births 1924 deaths People from Cali Colombian Liberal Party politicians Colombian Ministers of Agriculture Colombian generals {{colombia-politician-stub