Background
Belisario Betancur Cuartas was born on 4 February 1923 in Amaga.
government official politician president
Belisario Betancur Cuartas was born on 4 February 1923 in Amaga.
His early career was in journalism, and he was director of the newspaper El Siglo and editor of the weekly newsmagazine Semana and other periodicals. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1962 and to the Senate in 1970. In 1963 he became minister of labor in the government of President Guillermo Leon Valencia, and in that capacity he gained considerable sympathy in the organized labor movement. In 1974 he served as Colombian ambassador to Spain.
Betancur was the Conservative Party candidate for president in 1978 but was defeated by Liberal Julio César Turbay. Four years later, however, he won a strong victory.
Betancur dedicated much of his attention as president to ending the guerrilla conflicts that had been plaguing the country for several decades. Although he reached agreements with most of the guerrilla groups and proclaimed amnesty for their members, the president’s efforts collapsed in 1985, during which there were several major clashes between government forces and guerrilla groups, particularly the so-called M-19 faction.
