Colombia remembered the 20th anniversary of the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento. It was August 18 of 1989 when the Andean nation was under the reign of terror by the mafias and paramilitary groups. The henchmen of Pablo Escobar Gaviria, alike the ones of the Cartel of Cali, were ready to eliminate anyone who dared to face their power of drugs, organized crime and corruption of the political, social and administrative stances of the country. Their main concern was the possibility of extradition to American courts if the Colombian State agreed such legal possibility.
Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento was one of those charismatic political figures with a real national project for a country like Colombia. These kind of leaders are not rare in the history of the country. They arise time by time, especially in the darkest moments of Colombia. At the same time, it seems that criminal forces behind a status quo interested in dominate the political and social context of the nation, would not allow the success of projects of unity and development like those of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán – assassinated in 1948 – or Luis Carlos Galán.
Most of these leaders have managed a speech of justice, honesty, fighting the systems of corruption, the social improvement of the most marginalized groups, a constructive dialogue among all sectors of the Colombian society and the strengthening of the national institutions.
That national project – the one that Colombia needs -, has been fought through terror and intimidation by that other project handled by corrupt elements interested in keeping political and economical power at the cost of the destruction of the institutions. Keeping the chaos and the context of war and conflict, is more useful for those sectors supported by huge systems of mafia and corruption.
According with the analysis of German Vargas Lleras – ‘Si Galán estuviera con nosotros‘ (‘If Galán were with us’) – the political leader talked about the issue of the security as a fundamental right of the Colombians. But he did not understand it as the ultimate and exclusive purpose of governance. He talked also about the social improvements of the lives of the poor, the investment in public health, housing and other social issues. Security and social investment were seem by Galán as double priority. No one over the other.
Former Ministry of Justice and Senator Alberto Santofimio Botero, has been accused of being the intellectual author of the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento. Santofimio aspired as well to the presidency. According to Popeye, he asked Pablo Escobar to kill Galán, because he would be dangerous for Escobar if he would become president of Colombia.
Former DAS director, Miguel Maza Márquez, was recently arrested as a suspect in the conspiracy of the murder of Galán.
‘No reconozco enemigos dentro del partido liberal [...] los únicos enemigos son los que utilizan el terror y la violencia para acallar el pueblo colombiano o intimidarlo, o para asesinarle a sus más importantes protagonistas‘.
‘I do not recognize enemies withing the Liberal Party [...] the only enemies are those who use the terror and the violence to silence the Colombian people or to intimidate it or to murder its more important protagonists.’ (Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiente, few days before he was murdered.)
Related
- Prosecutor General wants former presidential candidate back in jail.
- Former DAS director arrested in Galán murder case.
- Description of the murder of Luis Carlos Galán by Revista Credencial Historia published by Luis Angel Arango Library (in Spanish).