Juan Manuel Galán facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Juan Manuel Galán
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Galán in 2017.
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| President of the New Liberlism Party | |
| Assumed office 6 July 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Senator of Colombia | |
| In office 20 July 2006 – 20 July 2018 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Luis Carlos Galán Pachón
29 July 1972 Bogotá, D.C., Colombia |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Other political affiliations |
New Libearlism (since 1990) |
| Spouse |
Carmenza Lian Barrera
(m. 2002) |
| Relations | Carlos Fernando Galán (brother) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Luis Carlos Galán (father) Gloria Pachón (mother) |
| Alma mater |
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| Profession | Political Scientist |
Juan Manuel Galán Pachón (born 29 July 1972) is a Colombian politician, currently serving as Senator of Colombia since 2006. He is the son and political heir of the assassinated political activist, politician, and presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento. A former member of the Liberal party, he refounded his father's party New Liberalism in 2021.
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Career
Galán attended the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional in Bogotá, where he graduated in 1989, the year his father was assassinated. After his family relocated to France, he enrolled at the Paris Institute of Political Studies where obtained a Certificate of Political Studies in 1992. He later attended the École des Hautes Études Internationales, also in Paris, where he graduated in 1996 with a Licentiate in International Affairs, and in 1997, graduated again with a Master of International Affairs with his thesis: New Liberalism: Or the New Way of Doing Politics in Colombia, that was later published by Planeta publishing company in Colombia. In 2003 he received a Master of Science in Foreign Service from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
In 1997, he returned to Colombia after eight years abroad, and quickly took the mantle of politics left by his father. He backed Rudolf Hommes Rodríguez against his uncle Antonio Galán Sarmiento in the mayoral race for Bogotá, which caused a great deal of controversy, and he went on to disavow former associates of his father for abusing the memory of his father and using his image for political gains, which infuriated members of the New Liberalism party, which his father had founded. He further moved to the right of his father when in 1998, he backed the Conservative party presidential candidate, Andrés Pastrana Arango. He became the campaign's youth director for Pastrana, and after Pastrana won the election, he named Galán Deputy Director for Youth at the Ministry of National Education.
In 2004, he was named Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Embassy of Colombia in London by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. He resigned in August 2005, and returned to Colombia to run for Senate.
Senate
Galán ran for Senate during the 2006 elections as the second-in-line of the open-option electoral list put forth by the Liberal party. The Liberal party list received a total of 1,436,657 votes, of which Galán received 64,449, the second-highest number of votes after Juan Manuel López Cabrales, the third-in-line of the Liberals' electoral list. During this term he was a member of the Senate's Second Commission that deals with Foreign Affairs and National Defence.
He ran again in 2010, this time as head of the open-option electoral list put forth by the Liberal party. The Liberal party obtained 1,724,151 votes, of which 81,555 were for Galán who obtained the second-highest number of votes after Arlet Patricia Casado Fernández, the third-in-line of the Liberals' electoral list.
He is currently a member of the Senate's First Commission that deals with Statutory Laws and Internal Affairs.
Personal life
Born in Bogota to Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento and Gloria Pachón Castro; the eldest of their three children; his two younger brothers are, Claudio Mario and Carlos Fernando. His father, Luis Carlos, was a former Education Minister, Ambassador, and Senator, who was assassinated on the orders of Pablo Escobar on 18 August 1989, when the former was running for President of Colombia. Juan Manuel's maternal aunt, Maruja, then-wife of Luis Alberto Villamizar Cárdenas, was kidnapped a year later, also on orders of Escobar, as part of a larger scheme by Escobar and his allies to put pressure on the Government to stop an extradition deal with the United States, something Juan Manuel's father supported.
See also
In Spanish: Juan Manuel Galán para niños
