Samuel Gustavo Moreno Rojas (born 11 February 1960) is a Colombian lawyer and politician, son of former

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Samuel Moreno Díaz and former presidential candidate María Eugenia Rojas Correa, grandson of former Colombian political-military authoritarian leader and ex-president

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army of Colombia, Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas ...

. His brother Iván Moreno Rojas is a former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

, minister and senator. On October 28, 2007, Moreno Rojas was elected

Mayor of Bogotá In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

representing 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) ...

(PDA) for the 2008–2012 term. On 3 May 2011, Moreno was suspended and stripped of his office by the

Office of the Inspector General In the United States, Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a generic term for the oversight division of a federal or state agency aimed at preventing inefficient or unlawful operations within their parent agency. Such offices are attached to man ...

for improprieties in the appropriation of city contracts. For the same accusations, the

Office of the Attorney General of Colombia The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative a ...

argued for a pretrial detention, and Moreno was arrested on 23 September 2011. He was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years of prison for his direct involvement in a corruption scheme during his term.

Education

Moreno Rojas studied Economics and Law in the

Universidad del Rosario Universidad del Rosario (officially in es, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario) is a Colombian university founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in Col ...

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 ...

and obtained specializations in business administration from the University of the Andes,

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana The Pontifical Xavierian University (in Spanish Pontificia Universidad Javeriana) is a private higher education institution founded in 1623. It is one of the oldest, most traditional, and prestigious Colombian universities, directed by the Societ ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

In 1982 Moreno Rojas joined the political party founded by his grandfather

and then led by his mother, the

National Popular Alliance The National Popular Alliance or ANAPO (''Alianza Nacional Popular'') was a political party in Colombia. It was founded in 1961 as a movement by the ex-president Gustavo Rojas Pinilla and was disbanded in 1998. Many ANAPO leaders and militants jo ...

(ANAPO). He became the coordinator of the ANAPO youth movement from 1982 to 1985. In 1985 he then became coordinator for

until 1987 when he was appointed as the national coordinator, a post in which he served until 2003.

Public office career

He was elected

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 ...

of Colombia in 1991 and then reelected for three more periods; 1994, 1998 and 2002. After 2002 Moreno Rojas focused on consolidating the

Independent Democratic Pole The Independent Democratic Pole (''Polo Democrático Independiente'') or (PDI), was a left-wing social democratic political party in Colombia. Origins Originally formed as a left-wing congressional coalition, the party itself was officially found ...

, a leftist political movement that included ANAPO and of which he was made party president. In 2005 Moreno Rojas was defeated by

Antonio Navarro Wolff Antonio José Navarro Wolff (born 9 July 1948) is an engineer, a former combatant and a Colombian politician. Navarro used to be a former Commandant and leader of the 19th of April Movement (M-19), a former guerrilla movement that operated in C ...

during the Democratic Pole's convention to appoint a presidential candidate. He then decided not to run for a fifth term as senator in order to seek the Mayorship of

for 2008.

Candidacy for Mayor of Bogotá and election

Candidacy

On July 8, 2007, he was elected as the candidate for the

after defeating the frontrunner in the opinion polls, María Emma Mejía.

Controversy during candidacy

On October 21, in a live TV debate, he was asked by

Antanas Mockus Aurelijus Rūtenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas (; born 25 March 1952) is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician. He has a master's degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia, and a Honoris Causa PhD from the U ...

if he would pay for 50 votes if that prevented someone who had already paid for 50,000 votes from winning, thus "saving Bogotá". His response was "Yes, without doubt!". His answer was controversial and highly criticized. Later, he claimed that he had not understood the question and that the expression "saving Bogotá" had led him to give such answer. During his campaign he proposed the construction of an underground

rapid transit system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

to increase the city's public transport capacity and reduce commuting time and crowding. This proposition was controversial, because the city already had a mass transit system, the

TransMilenio TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha. The system opened to the public in December 2000, covering Avenida Caracas, Caracas Avenue and 80 street. Other lines were added gradually ...

which is not finished yet, and the construction of this new system will make impossible to finish it, there's also the possibility that the city can't afford the construction and maintenance of the railway. President

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in t ...

mentioned that he would support the new system after proper analysis of the proposal and viability and suggested that the system must be financially self-sustainable if built. Uribe alleged that the Colombian government was unable to sustain through subsidies the maintenance of the rapid transit system.

Elected mayor

Moreno defeated rival and former Mayor

Enrique Peñalosa Enrique Peñalosa Londoño (born 30 September 1954) is a Colombian politician. He was mayor of Bogotá from 1998 until 2001 and elected again in 2015 for the 2016–2019 term. He was prominently featured in the Panama Papers for use of off-sho ...

in Bogotá's mayoral elections in October 2007, with 43.7% of the votes against the 28.15% achieved by Peñalosa. He took office on January 1, 2008. During his period in charge of the city, Moreno was widely criticised by media, members of his political party and a large proportion of his electors, due to his lack of results in terms of urban security, transit, and political promises made during his campaign.

2011 Suspension and Detention

On May 3, 2011, the

Inspector General of Colombia The Office of the Inspector General of Colombia ( es, Procuraduría General de Colombia) is a Colombian independent, public institution overseeing the public conduct of those in authority or in charge of exercising a public office, and of overs ...

, Alejandro Ordoñez decided to suspend Moreno for three months, due to alleged omissions on public works executions. This case has a link with an ongoing investigation for corruption and irregularities related to public construction bidding in Bogotá. On August 2, 2011, the Inspector decided to extend the suspension for three more months, claiming that the case against Moreno has not been resolved yet, and more time is required to achieve a resolution. On September 23, 2011, he was put in pretrial detention by a judge while his legal status is defined.

References

External links

Official Website (spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno Rojas, Samuel 1960 births Living people Del Rosario University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Politicians from Miami Mayors of Bogotá 20th-century Colombian lawyers

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

Independent Democratic Pole politicians National Popular Alliance politicians