Benjamín Herrera Cortés (18 October 1853 – 29 February 1924) was a Colombian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil that existed from 1831 to 1858. ...

. In 1875, while he was a student at the

University of Cauca The University of Cauca () is a public university, public research university located in the city of Popayán, capital of the department of Cauca Department, Cauca, Colombia. It was created on April 24, 1827, by a decree by the President Franci ...

, Herrera joined the liberal army under César Conto to topple the conservative governor of

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...

. He fought in the civil war for a decade until 1885, when the liberal forces were defeated and he decided to settle down in

Pamplona, Colombia Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is the fifth most populated city and the sixth most populated municipality in the department. History Colonization The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as N ...

. In 1895 he returned to the political scene, gaining resources for a new liberal army against a new conservative governor. In the

Thousand Days' War The Thousand Days' War () was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Colombian Liberal Party, Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party (Colombia), National Party, and lat ...

he became the main military strategist on the liberal side of the war, and, second to

Rafael Uribe Uribe Rafael Victor Zenón Uribe Uribe (April 12, 1859 – October 15, 1914, in Bogotá) was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army. Uribe Uribe is best known for his political ideas in favor of the establishme ...

he became the main figure of Colombian liberalism. After the war, in 1905, he was elected to the

Chamber of Representatives of Colombia The Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: ''Cámara de Representantes'') is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia. It has 172 members elected to four-year terms. Electoral system According to the Colombian Constitution, the Chamber of ...

. In 1905 and early 1906, he commanded the Colombian army forces confronting Venezuela, In 1909 Herrera became a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, and in 1914 he became

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

under the government of

Jose Vicente Concha Jose is the English language, English transliteration of the Hebrew language, Hebrew and Aramaic language, Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jos ...

. In 1922 he was the presidential candidate for the

Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party (; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999. Th ...

. He founded the Universidad Libre in 1923 (Free University). Herrera died in 1924.

References

1853 births 1924 deaths People from Cali Colombian Liberal Party politicians Ministers of agriculture of Columbia Colombian generals {{colombia-politician-stub