Andrés Pastrana Arango
Andrés Pastrana Arango (born 17 August 1954) is a Colombian politician who was the 30th President of Colombia from 1998 to 2002,[1] following in the footsteps of his father, Misael Pastrana Borrero, who was president from 1970 to 1974.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pastrana and the second or maternal family name is Arango.
Andrés Pastrana Arango
Álvaro Uribe
Julio César Sánchez
Juan Martín Caycedo Ferrer
17 August 1954
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
Misael Pastrana Borrero (father)
María Cristina Arango Vega (mother)
- Santiago Pastrana Puyana
- Laura Pastrana Puyana
- Valentina Pastrana Puyana
- Our Lady of the Rosary University (LLB, 1977)
- Harvard University (WCIA Fellow, 1978)
Early years[edit]
Pastrana was born on 17 August 1954 in Bogotá to Misael Pastrana Borrero, who later served as the 23rd President of Colombia, and María Cristina Arango Vega, the former First Lady of Colombia.[2]
During his father's presidency, he was a high school student at Colegio San Carlos where he served as president of the student council and graduated in 1973. He later acquired a degree in law at the Our Lady of the Rosary University in 1977, and attended Harvard University as a 1978 Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Fellow.[2] He founded the magazine Guión and a programadora known as Datos y Mensajes, whose flagship program was the newscast Noticiero TV Hoy. As a regular news anchor he became a nationally known figure.[3]
In 1982, he formally began his political career by gaining a seat on the local Bogotá council. He also specialized in press articles on the production and trafficking of cocaine for which he gained many journalistic awards. In 1991, he was elected Senator.
First candidacy for President of Colombia[edit]
In 1994, he stood for the presidency against the Liberal candidate, Ernesto Samper, and lost by only 2% in the second round. Pastrana immediately accused Samper of using drug money to finance his campaign and provided audio recordings to the authorities that subsequently attracted much media attention and eventually led to a scandal known as 8.000 Process (Proceso 8.000).
While the accusation underwent a parliamentary investigation, Pastrana retired into his private life. In 1998, Pastrana announced his intention to run for president. This time, he won that year's presidential election.
Former paramilitary Salvatore Mancuso, commander of the AUC, admitted in 2023 that his organisation had supported Andres Pastrana's presidential campaign in 2002.[4]
