Colombian Ex-Senator Piedad Córdoba Dies at 68

On Saturday, January 20, senator Piedad Córdoba, 68, recognized social fighter and great leader who was always in favor of social justice of the Colombian people, died in the city of Medellin, and of the Historical Pact, died as a result of a heart attack.

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The president of teleSUR multimedia platform, Patricia Villegas, confirmed the news in her official X account, before Twitter and in statements to the same news channel.

Brief biographical profile:

Colombian lawyer and politician, she was born in Medellín, Antioquia, on January 25, 1955. From adolescence he began his social and political work in the marginalized communities of Medellín (Antioquia), linked to the Liberal Party.

Córdoba was a member of the Liberal Party for much of her political career and leader of the Citizen Power movement, on the left of that party. As a congressman she worked for women’s rights, ethnic and sexual minorities (LGBT society) and human rights.

Córdoba always maintained a progressive, liberal and anticlerical character in his political life, which began with the leader William Jaramillo. Between 1984 and 1986 she held her first public position as municipal subcontractor of Medellín.

Her outstanding work encouraged her to run for the House of Representatives in 1990, but she was defeated; months later she obtained a seat for the Departmental Assembly of Antioquia. Following the recall of Congress in 1991, she ran again as a candidate for the House and won a seat for her department for the biennium 1992-1994.

In 1994 William Jaramillo announced that he would not seek reelection as a senator, and Piedad Córdoba became the heiress of his political current, being elected senator of the Republic for the first time for the period 1994-1998.

In 1998 she was re-elected as a senator, and in this legislative period she added to her typical topics of debate (minorities, community mothers) the issue of the negotiated solution of the armed conflict, She was kidnapped by order of the leader of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), Carlos Castaño, in 1999.

After several weeks she was released from captivity, and decides to go into exile with her family in Canada. After going into exile, she returned to the country to continue her political work, but was the victim of two attacks, from which she escaped unharmed; she decided that her children should reside permanently in Canada.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote about the deceased senator:  "Piedad Córdoba was a woman beaten by a time and a society. She fought all his mature life for a more democratic society. Her body and mind did not resist the pressure of an anachronistic society, which applauded the adjustments of young people, hated dialogue and peace, hated black people, the indigenous and the poor, treated her like a criminal".

Other condolences came from the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), which in its social network account X, regrets the death of the senator, defender of DD.HH., a fighter for peace.

"With deep pain, we announce that Senator @piedadcordoba sadly passed away in Medellin. A tireless fighter for Peace and democracy. Peace in his tomb, we send a heartfelt hug to his family and friends", with this message, the Historic Pact party confirmed the death of the former senator, Piedad Córdoba.