Belisario Betancur

Belisario Betancur Cuartas (born February 4, 1923) was the President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.

Related Topics:
February 4 - 1923 - Colombia - 1982 - 1986

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Son of Rosendo Betancur and Anita Otilia Cuartas, he was born in El Morro de la Paila (Amagá, Antioquía, Colombia).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He became a Doctor of Law and Economy in 1947 from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín. He began his political career as member of Antioquia's Parlament from 1945-1947, between 1953 and 1957, he was part of the National Constitutional Asembly, where he proclaimed that the constitutional president was Laureano Gómez (Conservative) and not Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. He was minister of Labour in 1963 during Guillermo León Valencia's administration and ambassador of Colombia in Spain, until 1970 when he became an unsuccessfulpresidential candidate. In 1978 he ran again, but he had to wait until 1982 (May 30), when he was elected with 3,168,592 popular votes. He won Spain's Principe de Asturias prize for International Cooperation in 1983 for his contributions towards ending several Central American civil wars, such as the ones that ravaged El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1980s. He also began the descentralization of Colombian state and promoted the first peace talks with leftist armed groups.

Related Topics:
Laureano Gómez - Gustavo Rojas Pinilla - Guillermo León Valencia - Principe de Asturias prize for International Cooperation - 1983 - El Salvador - Nicaragua

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~