Colombian economist and politician (born )
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Gaviria and the second or maternal family name is Trujillo.
César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo (Spanish:[ˈsesaɾawˈɣustoɣaˈβiɾjatɾuˈxiʝo]&#;; born 31 March ) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from to , Secretary General of the Organization of American States from to and National Director of the Colombian Liberal Party from to During his tenure as president, he summoned the Constituent Assembly of Colombia that enacted the Constitution of
Born in Pereira, the Gaviria family had been important figures in Colombian politics and economy for over 30 years. César Gaviria is the distant cousin of José Narces Gaviria, the CEO of Bancolombia from to José N. Gaviria encouraged César Gaviria to run for the Congress of Colombia in early childhood. He was first elected to Congress in He served in Virgilio Barco's government, first as Minister of Finance and later as the Minister of the Interior.[1]
As a student, Gaviria spent a year as an exchange student in the United States with AFS Intercultural Programs.
Before entering politics, he studied at the University of the Andes in the s. He established AIESEC there, and then in was elected President of AIESEC in Colombia. This began his public service career.
At 23, he was elected councilman in his hometown of Pereira, and four years later he became the city's mayor. In he was elected to the Chamber of Representatives, of which he was president of in – Three years later he became co-chair of the Colombian Liberal Party.
He was the debate chief of Luis Carlos Galán, during Galán's presidential campaign, which was cut short by Galán's assassination on 18 August. Recently promoted to his campaign manager, Gaviria was proclaimed as Galán's political successor by his son, Juan Manuel Galán. His two main competitors were Hernando Durán Dussán, backed by regional party leaders, and Ernesto Samper.[2] His campaign was also the target of attacks by Pablo Escobar; Gaviria was to take Avianca Flight , bound for Cali. For security reasons he did not board the flight. The plane, with people aboard, exploded, killing everyone on board.[3] Despite these challenges, he was nominated as the Liberal presidential candidate, receiving 60% of the vote against Samper's % and Durán's %.[2]
In , he was elected President of Colombia, running as a Liberal Party candidate. During his government a new constitution was adopted in [4] As president, Gaviria also led the fight against the Medellín and Cali drug cartels, and various guerrilla factions.
Under his presidency, the prison La Catedral was built, but to Pablo Escobar's specifications. When Escobar was imprisoned there, he continued to control his drug empire; he also murdered several of his rivals inside the prison. On 20 July , Escobar escaped after learning that he was going to be moved to a different prison. On 2 December , the notorious drug lord was gunned down. His death was a triumph for the Gaviria administration.
Despite stable economic growth and foreign investment, 45 per cent of Colombians lived below the poverty line (particularly in rural areas) and slums were growing around major cities. Created by drug traffickers and supported by the army (President Gaviria said he saw them as a "possible solution"), paramilitary groups (autodefensas) were often engaged in fighting the country's various guerrilla factions. In cities, these groups carried out social cleaning missions. Tramps, marginalized people, street children and homosexuals were murdered by these groups. Many judges, several senators, priests, and even the head of the national police have been convicted of links with traffickers.[5]
His government created the "Convivir" in , which was supposed to help the army predict the activities of insurgent groups through a network of informers. However, according to journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina, "the reality has shown that the Convivir have legalized networks of hired killers in the service of drug traffickers and landowners, while having as their main objective the use of the civilian population as a cover for the paramilitary movement."[6]
In , Gaviria was elected Secretary General of the OAS (his term beginning after the end of his presidential term in August ). Reelected in , he worked extensively on behalf of Latin America. Between October and May , he served as international facilitator of the OAS mesa process, aimed at finding a solution to the internal Venezuelan political crisis between President Hugo Chávez and the Coordinadora Democrática opposition.[7]
Gaviria was proclaimed the sole chief of the Liberal Party in June On 27 April , his sister Liliana Gaviria was killed by unknown gunmen.[8]
His son, Simón Gaviria, led the Liberal Party between and and then served as national director of planning under the government of Juan Manuel Santos from to César Gaviria then took over the leadership of the party. He supported Iván Duque's candidacy for the presidential election, which Duque won.
Gaviria is a member of the Club of Madrid,[10][11] an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community, composed by more than members: former democratic Heads of State and Government from around the world.
In October , his name was mentioned in the Pandora Papers as the owner of a company located in Panama, a country considered a tax haven, through which he acquired Colombian companies.[12]
Héctor Villa Osorio