Belisario Betancur Cuartas (4 February 1923 – 7 December 2018) was a Colombian politician who served as the 26th President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986. He was a member of the

Colombian Conservative Party The Colombian Conservative Party ( es, Partido Conservador Colombiano) is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro. The Conservative party along ...

. His presidency was noted for its attempted peace talks with several Colombian guerilla groups. He was also one of the few presidents to abstain from participating in politics after leaving office.

Early life

Betancur was born in the Morro de la Paila district of the town of

Amagá Amagá () is a town and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. It is part of the subregion of Southwestern Antioquia Southwestern Antioquia is a subregion in the Colombian Department of Antioquia. The region is made up of 24 municipa ...

, Antioquia, in 1923. His parents were Rosendo Betancur, a blue-collar worker, and Ana Otilia Cuartas, a businesswoman. Betancur's mother died in 1950.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; ''Gobernantes Colombianos''; trans. Colombian Pryhjtyjyhfnpfjesidents; Interprint Editors Ltd., Italgraf, Segunda Edición; Page 255; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983 Betancur traveled to the city of

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, where he enrolled in the

Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana The Pontifical Bolivarian University ( es, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana), also referred to as UPB, is a private university in Colombia with its main campus in Medellín, where it was founded in 1936. As of June 2022, the UPB holds the top 4 ...

. In 1955, Betancur graduated in jurisprudence and obtained a degree in law and economics.

Political career

Betancur began his political career as a deputy in the Antioquia Departmental Assembly, where he served from 1945 to 1947. He served as a Representative to the National Chamber for the departments of Cundinamarca and Antioquia, and was a member of the National Constituent Assembly from 1953 to 1957. Betancur was the Minister of Labor in 1963 and Ambassador to Spain from 1975 to 1977. He ran for president as an independent Conservative candidate in the election of 1970, coming in third. He again ran as the official Conservative candidate in the election of 1978, but was defeated by Julio César Turbay Ayala.

Presidency

Betancur was finally elected President in 1982 and served until 1986. As President, he helped found the Contadora Group to bring about peace in Central America, began democratic reforms by incorporating the principal armed movements into civil life, promoted low-cost housing and open universities, began a literacy campaign and endorsed tax amnesty. During his term, the government approved the mayoral election law, municipal and departmental reforms, judicial and congressional reforms, the television statute, the national holiday law, and the new Código Contencioso Administrativo. His administration began the exploration and export of coal in the

Cerrejón Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over the mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Lati ...

North region and the broadcast of the regional television channels Teleantioquia and Telecaribe. Betancur was also noted for his attempts to bring peace to his country. During his administration he initiated peace talks with several Colombian guerilla groups. The controversial Palace of Justice siege occurred in late 1985, less than a year before the end of his presidential term. He was President during the 1985 eruption of

Nevado del Ruiz The Nevado del Ruiz (), also known as La Mesa de Herveo ( en, Mesa of Herveo, the name of the nearby town) is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratov ...

, which killed over 20,000 people.

Post-Presidency

Betancur retired from politics after he left office in 1986. Betancur was an Honorary Member of the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

for Latin America, Chairman of the

Truth Commission for El Salvador The Truth Commission for El Salvador ( es, Comisión de la Verdad para El Salvador) was a restorative justice truth commission approved by the United Nations to investigate the grave wrongdoings that occurred throughout the country's twelve year ...

, and President of the Santillana for Latin America Foundation in Bogotá. He also was a founding member of the

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences ( la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum Socialium, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operat ...

Personal life

In 1946, Betancur married Rosa Helena Álvarez Yepes. Together, they had three children including diplomat Diego Betancur Álvarez. Álvarez Yepes died in 1998. In October 2000, Betancur married Dalia Rafaela Navarro Palmar.

Death

On 6 December 2018, Betancur was hospitalized in Bogotá in a critical condition, suffering from a kidney infection.

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Marta Lucía Ramírez Marta Lucía Ramírez Blanco (born 4 July 1954) is a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as Vice President of Colombia from 2018 to 2022. She also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. In 2018, Ramírez became the firs ...

prematurely announced his death on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, but later retracted her statement. Betancur died the following day from the illness, aged 95. Before his death, Betancur said he did not wish to have a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of ...

and expressed interest in being buried at Jardines del Recuerdo Cemetery in Bogotá. On 8 December, his funeral was held with President

Iván Duque Márquez Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulga ...

and former Presidents

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by profession and a journalist by trade ...

and

César Gaviria César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National Di ...

in attendance. He was buried at Jardines del Recuerdo Cemetery later that day following a mass at

Gimnasio Moderno The Gimnasio Moderno is a private all-male Elite-traditional and liberal, primary and secondary school located in Bogotá, Colombia. It was founded in 1914 by various prestigious Colombians following the leading initiative of Don Agustín Nie ...

in Bogotá.

Honours

Betancur was the recipient of honorary doctorates from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

. He received the Prince of Asturias Peace Award of Spain in 1983.

References

External links

Biography by CIDOB Foundation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betancur, Belisario 1923 births 2018 deaths People from Antioquia Department Pontifical Bolivarian University alumni Colombian Conservative Party politicians Ambassadors of Colombia to Spain Presidents of Colombia Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts