Antonio Navarro Wolff

Antonio Navarro Wolff (born July 9, 1948 in Pasto, Nariño) is a Colombian politician and former commander of the 19th of April Movement (M-19) guerrilla group, which demobilized and formed a political party which he also led. Currently, he is serving a term as governor of the Department of Nariño, from 2008 to 2011.

Before M-19

In 1972, Navarro obtained the title of sanitary engineer from Universidad del Valle, after which he began postgraduate studies and eventually became a professor of the same university. He specialized in Environmental Engineering at Loughborough University, England (1976). He won a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation , the British Council and the International Development Research Center, IDRC, of Canada.

Professionally as a sanitary engineer, he was an adviser of the Social Medicine Department of the University of the Valley (1972), coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Research Center for Rural Development (CIMDER, 1972-1977), international adviser of the IDRC (1976-1978), professor of the Universidad del Valle (1972-1978), director of the Curriculum of Sanitary Engineering at the same university, and a private consultant.

Militancy in M-19

At the end of the Seventies, he became a part of the guerrilla group M-19, that would not lay down its arms until 1990, as part of a peace negotitation. In M-19, Navarro ascended until becoming the second-in-command of the organization. One of the controversial episodes of the M-19 was take-over of the Palace of Justice, in which a commando armed of the guerrilla detachment the Palace was taken to present/display a demand armed before the Supreme Court of Justice against president Betancur by the violation in the peace accords. As resulting from the taking and retakes it on the part of the troopses occurred the lamentable death of a great group of guerrillas, civil innocents, Magistrates and the military and the disappearance of several people who left with life. Although probably the events of this taking never totally will be clarified, some confirmed versions do not suggest it guerrilla made the taking financed by the narcotics trafficker Pablo Escobar, who demanded like contraprestación the destruction of compromising archives. Nevertheless, these versions have been denied with the results of the recent investigations of the commissions of the truth, where it concludes that the fire was possibly caused by driving of them troops.

Negotiations of Peace

Navarro it coordinated the Negotiating Equipment of Peace of this movement during the negotiations with the government of president Belisario Betancur (1984-1985.) was named head of the Commission to organize the National Dialogue, of whom also they comprised Vera Grabe, Alfonso Jacquin, Andrés Almarales and Israel Santamaría. The dialogues were broken, the truces were failed to fulfill and died the peace process. In May of 1985 she was victim of an attack in a cafeteria of the city of Cali, when a collaborator of army sent a grenade that caused an explosion to ten centimeters of the foot of Navarro. It was severely wounded . Esquir it it sectioned the nerve to him that moves the left part of the language. And the wound in the foot that of the knee for down the bone was destroyed. Due to security information it was going to undergo a new attack in the hospital, thus several personalities took part so that it could leave the country. They amputated the leg to him in Mexico and its recovery was in Cuba, where they did a prótesis to him.

Later it next to Carlos Pizarro carried out the negotiations of peace with the government of president Virgilio Barco (1989). The peace signed the 11 of March of 1990.

After the company/signature in the peace accords (1990), the M-19 postulated its maximum commander, Carlos Pizarro Leongómez to the presidency of the republic, but this one was assassinated in a commercial flight leaving from Bogota to Barranquilla the 26 of April of 1990. In spite of the proximity of the company/signature in the Navarro peace accords it made the decision to bury Pizarro in peace. After the burial of Carlos Pizarro the pictures of direction of the M-19 met and decided to continue with the process of peace the candidacy to the Presidency of Navarro, that obtained an outstanding third place.

Political Life

In the 2000s this party entered the leftist coalition of parties Alternative Democratic Pole and Navarro became its Secretary General.

Antonio Navarro has been mayor of the city of Pasto, Congressman of Colombia and was part of the Constituent Assembly of Colombia that created the Colombian Constitution of 1991, in which he was one of the three collegiate presidents of the assembly.

He has also served as Colombian Minister of Health and ran for the presidency of Colombia. In a second attempt to postulate himself as presidential candidate, Navarro lost his party's primaries. He then ran for the Senate and was elected.

Today is the governor of Nariño of the PDA.

References

* [http://www.polodemocratico.net/_Antonio-Navarro-Wolff_ Polo Democratico Alternativo - Antonio Navarro Wolff]
* [http://www.terra.com.co/elecciones_2002/congreso_2002_2006/14-07-2002/nota62600.html terra.com.co - VoteBien: Antonio Navarro Wolff]