Luis Santiago

Babylon5 character


name=Luis Santiago
race=Human
affiliation=President of Earth Alliance
planet=Earth
start=Survivors
finish=Chrysalis
portrayer=Douglas Netter

Luis Santiago is a fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television drama "Babylon 5", portrayed by Douglas Netter. He was the President of the Earth Alliance and was assassinated on the orders of his own vice president – Morgan Clark.

Character description

Background

When Luis Santiago was elected no one had doubts as to his Genevan expertise as he had already served as Vice President under President Elizabeth Levy during the tumultuous Earth-Minbari War. After serving at least one term, President Santiago was re-elected in 2258, defeating challenger Marie Crane. Santiago had strong policies on opening trade relations and discussions with alien races and fully supported the efforts of Babylon 5. While some saw this as a good thing, Vice-President Clark secretly opposed this viewpoint and once he was in power began a propaganda war to increase xenophobic views of the Earth Alliance.

Susan Ivanova comments during his reelection campaign that she does not intend to vote for Santiago because she believes a leader should have a strong chin, which Santiago lacks.

Assassination

He was approximately one year into his second term at the time of his assassination aboard EarthForce One, the Babylon 5 equivalent of Air Force One, at the beginning of 2259. The incident occurs near the jump point off Io, one of Jupiter's moons. An energy problem with Earth Force One's jump engines is registered and the craft explodes live on ISN (the CNN of Babylon's universe). A slight suspicion of foul play is hinted at by the ISN feed. The newscaster comments that the president is late making his New Year speech moments before the incident. Whether this is because an incident has already occurred on Earth Force One, with the explosion of the craft to cover any evidence, is unknown though it is later discovered Clark arranged the incident with help from The Shadows.