Álvaro Araújo Castro (born 7 November 1967) is a Colombian economist and former actor and Senator of Colombia. A Liberal politician, leader of the ALAS-Team Colombia political movement, and founder of Alternative for Social Advance (ALAS); he was arrested and jailed in 2007 for participating in parapolitics. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was also a Member of 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 ...

from 1994 to 2001.

Career

After graduating as

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

from the Externado University in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, 27-year-old Araújo ran for the Chamber of Representatives, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and was elected. Two years later, along with his father, he founded a dissident political movement called Alternative for Social Advance (ALAS). After his second term in the Chamber, he ran for 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 ...

receiving more than half of his votes from the department of Cesar and

, where he got the highest vote for someone from the Caribbean Region. His movement supported

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 Department, Antioquia. H ...

for the Presidency of Colombia. The voter turnout in the Cesar raised suspicion, because of the influence of paramilitary forces in the area. In May 2005, '' Semana'' published an article revealing a possible plan by paramilitary forces to influence elections. The Department of Cesar was divided into two zones, the G-8, formed by 8 municipalities in central Cesar Department where revenues from mining industry are high, and in which Senator Mauricio Pimiento and Representative Jorge Enrique Ramírez got most of their votes, and the G-11, formed mostly by southern municipalities where Representative Miguel Duran Gelvis and Senator Araújo had a high turnout. Araújo responded to these accusations by citing years of hard work politics and his family's influence in the region. He also pointed out that results, like the ones in Tamalameque where he received more than 70% of the total votes, were easily explained because of the influence of his third runner-up, Ricardo Chajín Florián, who had been Mayor of Tamalameque. In the Senate, Araújo was a member of the Fifth Commission of the Senate in which he promoted

Hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

projects and proposed the Mines Code which is cited for duplicating the production of coal in Colombia. He was also a proponent of equal ownership rights for gay couples, and integrating demobilized members of the Cacique Nutibara Bloc into the Armed Forces of Colombia if they met certain judicial requisites. He was temporarily replaced in the Senate from 17 August 2004 to 17 February 2005 by Ricardo Chajín Florián, the third-runner up in his list.

Parapolitica scandal

On January 19, 2006 Araújo was first accused by then candidate for Senate Gustavo Petro, of having ties with paramilitary groups headed by the now demobilized paramilitary leader Jorge 40 and his men. The Supreme Court of Colombia investigated the accusations in what became known as the Parapolitics scandal, as a result, on 16 February 2007, Araújo was arrested along with other senators for having ties to illegal paramilitary groups.

Accomplice in kidnapping

Arising from his investigation in parapolitics, Araújo was also formally accused of the

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

of former Mayor of Valledupar, Elías Ochoa Daza's brother Víctor. He was found guilty of the charges and sentenced to 9 years and 3 months of prison on March 18, 2010.

Family

Álvaro was born on 7 November 1967 to Álvaro Araújo Noguera and María Lourdes Castro, and he is married to Sandra Estevao. Of his four siblings, Sergio and Ana María were implicated in the parapolitics scandal, María Consuelo was

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, and Sara Araújo Castro is a journalist.

Acting spell

Álvaro represented Miguel Casares in the Colombian drama ''Escalona'' aired in the beginning of the nineties and produced by

Caracol Televisión Caracol Televisión () (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal ...

References

External links

Caracol.com.co - Gustavo Petro acusa al senador Álvaro Araújo de tener vínculos paramilitares

* ttp://www.terra.com.co/elecciones_2006/partidos/10-01-2006/nota271015.html terra.com.co Alas Equipo Colombia - Perfiles de sus líderes: Álvaro Araújo {{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo Castro, Alvaro 1967 births Living people People from Santa Marta Alvaro 20th-century Colombian economists Colombian prisoners and detainees Colombian Liberal Party politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Colombian parapolitics scandal Team Colombia politicians Colombian politicians convicted of crimes