Samuel Moreno Rojas

Samuel Moreno Rojas


Mayor of Bogotá
In office 1 January 2008 – 3 May 2011
Preceded by	Luis Eduardo Garzón
Succeeded by	María Fernanda Campo Saavedra
Senator of Colombia
In office 1991–2006
Personal details
Born	Samuel Gustavo Moreno Rojas (1960-02-11) 11 February 1960 Miami, Florida, United States
Nationality	Colombian American
Political party	Alternative Democratic Pole
Other political affiliations	Independent Democratic Pole National Popular Alliance
Spouse(s)	Cristina González
Relations	María Eugenia Rojas Correa (mother) Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (grandfather)
Children	Mateo Moreno González Samuel Moreno González
Alma mater	Our Lady of the Rosary University
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	www.samuelalcalde.com

Samuel Gustavo Moreno Rojas (born 11 February 1960) is a Colombian lawyer and politician, son of former congressman Samuel Moreno Díaz and former presidential candidate María Eugenia Rojas Correa, grandson of former Colombian political-military authoritarian leader and ex-president Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. His brother Iván Moreno Rojas is a former Mayor of Bucaramanga, minister and senator. On October 28, 2007, Moreno Rojas was elected Mayor of Bogotá representing the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) for the 2008-2012 term. On 3 May 2011, Moreno was suspended and stripped of his office by the Office of the Inspector General for improprieties in the appropriation of city contracts. For the same accusations, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia argued for a pretrial detention, and Moreno was arrested on 23 September 2011. He was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years of prison for his direct involvement in a corruption scheme during his term.

Education

Moreno Rojas studied Economics and Law in the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá and obtained specializations in business administration from the University of the Andes, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Harvard University.

Career

In 1982 Moreno Rojas joined the political party founded by his grandfather Gustavo Rojas Pinilla and then led by his mother, the National Popular Alliance (ANAPO). He became the coordinator of the ANAPO youth movement from 1982 to 1985. In 1985 he then became coordinator for Bogotá until 1987 when he was appointed as the national coordinator, a post in which he served until 2003.

Public office career

He was elected senator of Colombia in 1991 and then reelected for three more periods; 1994, 1998 and 2002. After 2002 Moreno Rojas focused on consolidating the Independent Democratic Pole, a leftist political movement that included ANAPO and of which he was made party president. In 2005 Moreno Rojas was defeated by Antonio Navarro Wolff during the Democratic Pole's convention to appoint a presidential candidate. He then decided not to run for a fifth term as senator in order to seek the Mayorship of Bogotá for 2008.

Candidacy for Mayor of Bogotá and election

Candidacy

On July 8, 2007 he was elected as the candidate for the Alternative Democratic Pole after defeating the frontrunner in the opinion polls, María Emma Mejía.

Controversy during candidacy

On October 21, in a live TV debate, he was asked by Antanas Mockus if he would pay for 50 votes if that prevented someone who had already paid for 50,000 votes from winning, thus "saving Bogotá". His response was "Yes, without doubt!". His answer was controversial and highly criticized. Later, he claimed that he had not understood the question and that the expression "saving Bogotá" had led him to give such answer.

During his campaign he proposed the construction of an underground rapid transit system to increase the city's public transport capacity and reduce commuting time and crowding. This proposition was controversial, because the city already had a mass transit system, the TransMilenio which is not finished yet, and the construction of this new system will make impossible to finish it, there’s also the possibility that the city can't afford the construction and maintenance of the railway. President Álvaro Uribe mentioned that he would support the new system after proper analysis of the proposal and viability and suggested that the system must be financially self-sustainable if built. Uribe alleged that the Colombian government was unable to sustain through subsidies the maintenance of the rapid transit system.

Elected mayor

Moreno defeated rival and former Mayor Enrique Peñalosa in Bogotá's mayoral elections in October 2007, with 43.7% of the votes against the 28.15% achieved by Peñalosa. He took office on January 1, 2008.

During his period in charge of the city, Moreno has been widely criticized by media, members of his political party, and a large proportion of his electors, due to his lack of results in terms of urban security, transit, and political promises made in his campaign.

2011 Suspension and Detention

On May 3, 2011 the Inspector General of Colombia, Alejandro Ordoñez decided to suspend Moreno for three months, due to alleged omissions on public works executions. This case has a link with an ongoing investigation for corruption and irregularities related to public construction bidding in Bogotá.^[1]^[2] On August 2, 2011, the Inspector decided to extend the suspension for three more months, claiming that the case against Moreno has not been resolved yet, and more time is required to achieve a resolution. ^[3] On September 23, 2011, he was put in pretrial detention by a judge while his legal status is defined.^[4]

References

External links

Mayors of Bogotá

Municipal mayors	Javier Tobar Ahumada (1910–1911) Manuel María Mallarino (1911–1913) Emilio Cuervo Márquez (1913–1914) Andrés Marroquín Osorio (1914–1917) Raimundo Rivas (1917) Gerardo Arrubla (1917–1918) Santiago de Castro (1918–1920) Tadeo de Castro (1920) Cenón Escobar (1920) Ernesto Sánz de Santamaría (1920–1925) Leonidas Ojeda (1925) José Posada Tavera (1925–1926) José María Piedrahita (1926–1929) Luis Borrero Mercado (1929) Luis Augusto Cuervo (1929) Alfonso Robledo (1929) Hernando Carrizosa (1929–1930) Luis Carlos Páez (1930) Enrique Vargas Nariño (1930–1931) Francisco Umaña Bernal (1931) Enrique Vargas Nariño (1931) Luis Patiño Galvis (November 1931 – December 1933) Alfonso Esguerra (December 1933 – March 1934) Julio Pardo Dávila (March 1934 – January 1935) Diego Montaña Cuéllar (January 1935 – February 1935) Jorge Merchán (February 1935 – October 1935) Carlos Arango Vélez (October 1935 – March 1936) Francisco José Arévalo (March 1936 – June 1936) Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala (June 1936 – March 1937) Gonzalo Restrepo (March 1937 – May 1937) Manuel Rueda Vargas (May 1937 – March 1938) Gustavo Santos (March 1938 – October 1938) Germán Zea Hernández (October 1938 – April 1941) Julio Pardo Dávila (May 1941 – August 1942) Carlos Sanz de Santamaría (August 1942 – March 1944) Jorge Soto del Corral (March 1944 – November 1944) Gabriel Paredes (November 1944 – january 1945) Juan Pablo Llinás (January 1945 – June 1945) Ramón Muñoz Toledo (June 1945 – September 1946) Juan Salgar Martín (October 1946 – March 1947) Francisco José Arévalo (April 1947 – March 1948) Fernando Mazuera Villegas (April 1948 – October 1948) Carlos Reyes Posada (October 1948 – December 1948) Fernando Mazuera Villegas (December 1948 – May 1949) Carlos Reyes Posada (May 1949 – June 1949) Gregorio Obregón (June 1949 – September 1949) Marco Tulio Amaya (September 1949 – October 1949) Santiago Trujillo (October 1949 – July 1952) Manuel Briceño (July 1952 – June 1953) José Rodríguez Mantilla (June 1953 – July 1953) Col. Julio Cervantes (July 1953 – September 1954)

Mayors of the Special District	Roberto Salazar Gómez (1954–1955) Andrés Rodríguez Gómez (1955–1957) Fernando Mazuera Villegas (1957–1958) Juan Pablo Llinás (1958–1961) Jorge Gaitán Cortés (1961–1966) Virgilio Barco Vargas (1966–1969) Emilio Urrea Delgado (1969–1970) Carlos Albán Holguín (1970–1973) Aníbal Fernández de Soto (1973–1974) Alfonso Palacio Rudas (1974–1975) Luis Prieto Ocampo (1975–1976) Bernardo Gaitán Mahecha (1976–1978) Hernando Durán Dussán (1978–1982) Augusto Ramírez Ocampo (1982–1984) Hisnardo Ardila (1984–1985) Diego Pardo Koppel (1985–1986) Julio César Sánchez (1986–1988) Andrés Pastrana Arango (1988–1990) Juan Martín Caicedo Ferrer (1990–1991)

Mayors of the Capital District of Santa Fe de Bogotá	Juan Martín Caicedo Ferrer (1991–1992) Sonia Durán de Infante (ad-hoc) (1992–1992) Jaime Castro Castro (1992–1994) Antanas Mockus (1995–1996) Paul Bromberg Silverstein (1996–1997)

Mayors of the Capital District of Bogotá	Enrique Peñalosa (1998–2000) Antanas Mockus (2001–2003) Luis Eduardo Garzón (2004–2007) Samuel Moreno Rojas (2008 – June 2011) María Fernanda Campo Saavedra (Acting Mayor, May 2011 – June 2011) Clara López Obregón (Acting Mayor, June 2011 – December 2011) Gustavo Petro (2012 – March 2014) Rafael Pardo (Acting Mayor, March 2014 – April 2014) María Mercedes Maldonado (Acting Mayor, April 2014) Gustavo Petro (April 2014 – 2015) Enrique Peñalosa (2016–2019)

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