Álvaro Gómez Hurtado (May 8, 1919 – November 2, 1995) was a Colombian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

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, ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and active member of the

Colombian Conservative Party The Colombian Conservative Party ( es, Partido Conservador Colombiano) is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro. The Conservative party along ...

. Gómez was a son of the former

President of Colombia The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...

Laureano Gómez Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro (20 February 1889 – 13 July 1965) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 18th President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953. In November 1951 poor health led him to cede presidential pow ...

. He is mostly remembered for being one of the writers of 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 als ...

, for running three times for the presidency, without success, and for his murder at the hands of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

. He served separate appointments as ambassador to Switzerland, Italy, the United States and France, beginning in the 1940s.

Early years

Álvaro Gómez was born as the second of four children to

, a newspaper publisher who later became president of Colombia. His mother was María Hurtado Cajiao. His siblings are Cecilia, Rafael and

Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (D ...

. The family grew up in

La Candelaria La Candelaria is the 17th locality of Bogotá, Colombia. A historic neighborhood in the city's downtown, it is the equivalent to the ''Old City'' in other cities. The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has Spanish Colonial, Ba ...

, a traditional neighborhood of Bogotá. The children attended private schools in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

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while their father served as a diplomat. After his family's return to Bogotá, Gómez went to the Colegio de San Bartolomé, a preparatory school, graduating in 1936. He studied law at the

Pontifical Xavierian University 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 Soc ...

and graduated as a lawyer in 1941. His thesis was entitled ''Influencias del Estoicismo en el Derecho Romano'' ("The Influence of

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...

in Roman Law").

Journalism

He began writing for the newspaper '' El Siglo'', which was owned by his father. He later founded a weekly business magazine called ''Síntesis Económica'' (Economic Synthesis) and created and produced a television news show called ''Noticiero 24 Horas'' ("24 Hours News").

Political career

Gómez Hurtado's first political office was as elected councilman for the city of Bogotá. He next ran for 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 ...

and was elected for a four-year term. After finishing his term, he was elected to 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 ...

. Gómez was appointed as a "plenipotentiary minister" several times. He was also appointed as Ambassador to 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 ...

, Switzerland, Italy, the United States and France.

Presidential candidacies

Gómez founded the

National Salvation Movement The National Salvation Movement (''Movimiento de Salvación Nacional'') is a conservative political party in Colombia, founded by Alvaro Gómez Hurtado in 1990. At the legislative elections held on 10 March 2002, the party, as one of the many s ...

. He ran (unsuccessfully) as its candidate for president three times: in 1974 against

Alfonso López Michelsen Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with ...

, in 1986 against

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 ...

and in 1990 against

César Gaviria César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National Di ...

President of the Constituent Assembly

He was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, which created the new

. He was elected as co-president of the Constituent Assembly along with

Horacio Serpa 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 ...

and Antonio Navarro. After the Constitution had been written and ratified, Gómez left politics and focused on journalism and academia.

Kidnapping

In 1988, Gómez was kidnapped by the M-19 guerrillas, and was released after the intervention of Álvaro Leyva.

Assassination

Álvaro Gómez was murdered by gunmen on November 2, 1995 in Bogotá while leaving the

Sergio Arboleda University Sergio Arboleda University ( es, Universidad Sergio Arboleda) is a university located in Bogotá, Colombia, with sectionals located in Santa Marta, Colombia and in Madrid, in Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat ...

, where he was a Visiting Professor.

FARC-EP The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conf ...

claimed responsibility for his murder in letter to the Special Justice for Peace (JEP) tribunal in October 2020. In a clandestine book of letters from FARC founder Manuel Marulanda, titled ''Documentos y Correspondencia Manuel Marulanda Vélez (1993-1998),'' there are six mentions that the guerrilla committed the magnicide. However it is important to take into account that the family of Gómez Hurtado stated that it is a strategy to distract the investigation that during the last 25 years has been collecting evidence that might incriminate former president Ernesto Samper Pizano (1994-1998). Gómez Hurtado was denouncing the financing by the drug cartels of the former president Ernesto Samper's campaign, and they believe that the evidence shows that it was a state crime. Ernesto Samper has been a supporter of peace talks with the FARC guerrilla.

Published work

*''La Revolución en América'' (Revolution in the Americas) *''La Calidad de Vida'' (The Quality of Life) *''Soy libre''. (I am Free) *''Compilación de conferencias dictadas en la Universidad Sergio Arboleda''. (Compilation of his lectures at Sergio Arboleda University)

Marriage and family

Álvaro Gómez was married to Margarita Escobar López and had three children: Mauricio, Mercedes and Álvaro José.

Notes

References

El Diario del Otun newspaper; Alvaro Gomez Hurtado

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez Hurtado, Alvaro 1919 births 1995 deaths People from Bogotá Children of presidents of Colombia Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Presidential Designates of Colombia Ambassadors of Colombia to Switzerland Ambassadors of Colombia to Italy Ambassadors of Colombia to France Ambassadors of Colombia to the United States Colombian journalists Male journalists Colombian academics Colombian Conservative Party politicians Burials at Central Cemetery of Bogotá Members of the Constituent Assembly of Colombia 20th-century journalists