Alfonso López Michelsen

Infobox_President
name=Alfonso López Michelsen
nationality=Colombian
order=32nd
office=President of Colombia
term_start=August 7, 1974
term_end=August 7, 1978
predecessor=Misael Pastrana
successor=Julio César Turbay
order2 =1st
office2 =Governor of the Department of Cesar
term_start2 =December 21, 1967
term_end2 =August 14, 1968
predecessor=Incumbent
successor2=Luis Roberto García
birth_date2=June 30, 1913
birth_place=Bogotá D.C
death_date=death date and age|2007|7|11|1913|6|30
death_place=Bogotá D.C
party=Liberal Party

Alfonso López Michelsen (June 30, 1913 in Bogotá – July 11, 2007 in Bogotá, DC) was a Colombian politician, lawyer and journalist. Lopez Michelsen was president of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was the son of Alfonso López Pumarejo, who was also president of Colombia from 1934 to 1938, and once again from 1942 to 1945. He died in Bogotá during the early hours of July 11, 2007 of a heart attack.

Early years

López Michelsen was the son of former two time president of Colombia, Alfonso López Pumarejo. He was born and raised in Bogotá. He studied at the "Gimnasio Moderno" School and later in other cities; Paris, Brussels, London and Santiago de Chile. He graduated with a degree in law from the Universidad del Rosario.

During his father's presidency, Lopez Michelsen maintained a low profile in politics and instead focused on becoming a university professor at the "Universidad del Rosario". [http://www.elespectador.com/elespectador/Secciones/Detalles.aspx?idNoticia=12208&idSeccion=21]

In 1938, López Michelsen married Cecilia Caballero Blanco in Bogotá. They moved to the outskirts of Bogotá in a "hacienda" in the then municipality of Engativá, Cundinamarca Department (nowadays a Locality of Bogota). Settled in this town, Lopez Michelsen had his first experience with politics becoming a town councilman. During this time, his fellow councilmen included Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and Julio César Turbay Ayala

Political career

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

Governor of the Department of Cesar (1967-1968)

In 1966, Lopez Michelsen was elected as a senator and negotiated the return of the MRL to the Liberal Party in 1967. This same year Lopez Michelsen traveled to the city of Valledupar 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. Lopez Michelsen traced his grandmothers' family ancestors from this town "the Pumarejos". During those years, he also helped to create the Vallenato Legend Festival (now one of the most important Colombian cultural events) along with vallenato composer Rafael Escalona and journalist Consuelo Araujo. He served as governor of Cesar from December 21, 1967 until August 14, 1968.

Cabinet

*Secretary of Government: Luis Roberto Garcia
*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 then appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs until the presidential term of President Carlos Lleras Restrepo ended in 1970.

Presidency (1974-1978)

In 1974, Lopez Michelsen was selected by the Liberal Party in as their candidate for president after defeating former president Carlos Lleras Restrepo in the party presidential primaries with the support of former candidate Julio César Turbay. He won the general election by a large margin against the Conservative Party candidate Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and the ANAPO candidate, María Eugenia Rojas.

In his inaugural speech on August 7, 1974, Lopez Michelsen was mostly remembered for calling the border disputed area in the Gulf of Venezuela by its native name "Gulf of Coquibacoa" given by the wayuus.

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.

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 made the country think") [http://www.elespectador.com/elespectador/Secciones/Detalles.aspx?idNoticia=12208&idSeccion=21]

In 2006, he returned to political life after the Liberal Party went through a crisis after the elections of that year, which despite finishing in third place in the presidential election and losing seats in Congress, still represented a decisive political force in the Colombian congress. Lopez Michelsen died in Bogotá on July 11, 2007 after suffering a heart attack. [http://www.eltiempo.com/politica/2007-07-11/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3633513.html]

References

*es icon [http://moir.org.co/tribuna/cronicas/Lasmentiras.htm MOIR: the six lies of President Lopez]
*es icon [http://www.eltiempo.com/politica/2007-07-11/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3633513.html EL TIEMPO: Alfonso López Michelsen 1913-2007]