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Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th
President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...
from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with precocious careers.


Early years

López was the son of former two-time
president of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...
,
Alfonso López Pumarejo Alfonso López Pumarejo (31 January 1886 – 20 November 1959) was a Colombian political figure, who twice served as President of Colombia, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as President of Colombia from 1934 to 1938 and aga ...
and his first wife María Michelsen Lombana, who was of Danish descent. He was born and raised 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 ...
. He studied at the ''Gimnasio Moderno'' School and later in other cities:
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,
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...
. He graduated with a degree in
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
from the Universidad del Rosario. During his father's presidency, López maintained a low profile in politics and instead focused on becoming a university professor at the ''Universidad del Rosario''. In 1938, López married Cecilia Caballero Blanco in Bogotá and they had three sons. They moved to the outskirts of
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 ...
in a ''
hacienda A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...
'' in the then
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of
Engativá Engativá is the 10th locality of Bogotá. It is located in the west of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by lower middle and working class residents. Etymology Engativá is either derived from ''Ingativá''; ''cacique'' Inga; "Land ...
,
Cundinamarca Department Department of Cundinamarca (, ) is one of the departments of Colombia. Its area covers (not including the Capital District) and it has a population of 2,919,060 as of 2018. It was created on August 5, 1886, under the constitutional terms pre ...
(nowadays a Locality of Bogotá). Settled in this town, López had his first experience of politics becoming a town councilman. During this time, his fellow councilmen included two other politicians who went on to become key political players in the country, Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and future president
Julio César Turbay Ayala Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United S ...
.


Political career

In 1959, a group of his former college students founded the Liberal Revolutionary Movement (MRL) as a reaction against the pact between 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 the Conservative Party to create the National Front, in which the two parties took turns to govern. López Michelsen was then offered the leadership of the newly created MRL and he accepted, becoming a presidential candidate for the 1962 presidential elections. López lost the election by a large margin to Conservative candidate Guillermo León Valencia.


Governor of the Department of Cesar (1967–1968)

In 1966, López was elected as a
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
and negotiated the return of the MRL to the Liberal Party in 1967. This same year López traveled to the city of
Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. The ...
after being appointed by President Carlos Lleras Restrepo as the first governor of Cesar Department, a newly created province in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia. López was able to trace his grandmothers' family ancestors "the Pumarejos," back to this town. During those years, he was also instrumental in the creation of the Vallenato Legend Festival (nowadays, one of the most important cultural events in Colombia) along with
vallenato Vallenato () is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the ''Sierra Nevada de Santa Mar ...
composer Rafael Escalona and journalist Consuelo Araújo. He served as governor of Cesar from December 21, 1967, until August 14, 1968.


Cabinet

*Secretary of Government:
Luis Roberto García Luis Roberto García Díaz-Granados was a Colombian politician and two time Governor of the Department of Cesar. He also served as Viceminister of Labor and Social Safety under the administration of President Julio César Turbay Ayala Jul ...
*Secretary of Development: Alvaro Pupo Pupo *Administrative Office Chief: Alvaro Araujo Noguera *Chief of Planning: Jorge Chaild Velez *Chief of Education: Cesar Fernandez Dager *Chief of Agricultural Sector: Hernan Osorio *Chief of Public Works: Emiro Alfonso Zuleta *Chief of Budget and Accountability: Teobaldo Manjarrez *Chief of General Services: Damazo Lora *Chief of Personnel: Jorge Gomez *Chief of Judicial Bureau: Uribe Habid Molina *Administrator of Rents: Diomedes Daza Daza *Private Secretary: Cesar Escobar Ortega *Chief of Public Relations: Rafael Escalona


Minister of Foreign Affairs

A year later, he was appointed
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, ...
until the end of the presidential term of President Carlos Lleras Restrepo in 1970.


Presidency (1974–1978)

In 1974, López was chosen by the Liberal Party as their candidate for president, after defeating former president Carlos Lleras Restrepo in the party presidential primaries, with the support of former candidate (and presidential successor) Julio César Turbay. He won the general election by a large margin against the Conservative Party candidate Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, and the
ANAPO 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 joi ...
candidate, María Eugenia Rojas. His 2,929,719 votes were the highest ever for any president until that time. His inaugural presidential speech, delivered on August 7, 1974, is mostly remembered for calling the disputed border area in the
Gulf of Venezuela The Gulf of Venezuela is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and by La Guajira Department, Colombia. The western side is formed by the Guajira Peninsula. A strait connects it with Maracaibo Lake to ...
by its native indigenous name, "Gulf of Coquibacoa" given by the
Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayú, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Indigenous ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Arawakan language family. Throughout their history, they ...
s. In his speech he also promised to reduce the growing gap between farmer and urban populations and to fight poverty, messages that attracted the support of many left-wing political movements. As a president, López declared economic emergency in order to correct the fiscal deficit, which allowed him to implement a number of regulatory measures to control spending, and to reduce subsidies and programs like the tax credit certificate (CAT) which reimbursed partial or total taxes for exporting companies. He also introduced a tax and fiscal reform which increased national saving, and allowed an increase in public investment and exports. Crop production increased 16%, and he also created public offices devoted to the improvement of farming. Under his government, also, power grids were expanded, and infrastructure investment increased. In contrast, inflation reached under his government its highest historical values, at around 32%. Early support for his policies soon turned to fierce opposition, as many of his campaign promises, in particular those to make deals with unions and in the improvement of potable water access, went unfulfilled, and as subsidies were eliminated and inflation rose. Unions and other leftist activists had been accumulating frustration and resentment for decades after the killing of
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala (23 January 1903 – 9 April 1948) was a Colombian politician and statesman who was the leader of the Liberal Party. A nationalist, he served as the mayor of Bogotá from 1936–37, the national Education Minister ...
, and the subsequent violence, and the hope for a more open society that came with Lopez's election turned into feelings of betrayal. As a result, and after three years as president the major Colombian Unions got together and managed to propose and organize a massive, general strike. The López administration took a hard approach towards the planned strike, calling it subversive and at some point threatening arrest and forbidding public meetings. This only enraged the participants, and the major unionists were joined by teachers, students, independent workers, housewives, guerrilla leaders, and even members of the opposition conservative party. The organizing committee demanded among other things salary increases, frozen prices for essential goods and public services fees, re-establishment of the right to meet and strike, and a reduction in work hours. The strike, occurring on September 14, 1977, came to be known as the National Civil Strike, and it attracted such a large number of discontented participants that the organizing committee soon lost control of it. Major roads were blocked all over Bogota, and in many other cities around the country, and very soon many small skirmishes between protesters and riot police started occurring all over. The manifestations and skirmishes soon turned into riots, and protesters started pillaging big stores and vandalizing factories and cars. By 4 pm the major declared curfew which only made protesters more enraged. Hundreds of protesters were wounded, and thousands were arrested and assembled in the city's
Soccer stadium Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
and bullfighting arena. Riots and skirmishes continued all night and well into the next day, which devastated the city. About 20 or 30 people died in the middle of it. As a consequence, unions declared victory and the López Michelsen's government had to make concessions. However, the riot made his government adopt a harsher, more repressive stance.


Post presidency

Upon the end of his term in 1978, he again became the leader of Liberal Party. He ran for president again in 1982, but was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate,
Belisario Betancur Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the List of Presidents of Colombia, 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. His ...
. He continued to actively participate in the decision making of the Liberal Party until the early 1990s when he decided to withdraw from political activity. He was a regular columnist for the Colombian newspaper '' El Tiempo'' which drew attention to many critical issues. For this reason he was called "''el hombre que pone a pensar al pais''" (Spanish for "The man who makes the country think"). Lopez Michelsen died in Bogotá on July 11, 2007, after suffering a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
."Alfonso López Michelsen 1913-2007", ''El Tiempo'', 14 July 2007
/ref>


Notes


References





{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Michelsen, Alfonso 1913 births 2007 deaths
Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...
Politicians from Bogotá Children of presidents of Colombia Del Rosario University alumni 20th-century Colombian lawyers Academic staff of the Free University of Colombia Academic staff of the National University of Colombia Colombian Liberal Party politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Colombia Governors of Cesar Department Presidents of Colombia Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Burials at Central Cemetery of Bogotá Colombian people of Danish descent Colombian people of Spanish descent Academic staff of Del Rosario University Michelsen family