Samuel Moreno, former Mayor of Bogota



FRONT PAGE
SiteSearch
About us |
Quiénes somos |
A propos de nous | Über uns |
Mayor Monitor
Directories
Events
Debate


World Mayor
World index of mayors
Mayors from The Americas

Mayors of the Month
Mayor of New York (08/2012)
Mayor of Bilbao (07/2012)
Mayor of Bogotá (06/2012)
Mayor of Perth (05/2012)
Mayor of Mazalán (04/2012)
Mayor of Tel Aviv (03/2012)
Mayor of Surrey (02/2012)
Mayor of Osaka (01/2012)
Mayor of Ljubljana (12/2011)

Country sections
Argentine Mayors
Belgian Mayors
Brazilian Mayors
British Mayors
Canadian Mayors
Chilean Mayors
Colombian Mayors
Czech Mayors
French Mayors
German Mayors
Italian Mayors
Japanese Mayors
Mexican Mayors
Spanish Mayors
US Mayors


City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa |


City Mayors ranks the world’s largest, best as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More


City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world. More


City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More


Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa compete for the World Mayor Award. More


Use
Mayor Monitor to rate the performance of mayors from across the world More


In your opinion: Praise Criticise. Write


City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More


City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More


City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More


City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More


City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More


City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More


City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More


City Mayors invites readers to write about the people in their cities. More


City Mayors examines city brands and marketing. More


City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More



City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world’s greatest metro systems. More


City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More


City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More


City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More


City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More


City Mayors questions those who govern the world’s cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More


City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More


City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More


City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More


Samuel Moreno
Former Mayor of Bogota
By Andrew Stevens

18 November 2007: The son of two congressional figures and the grandson of a former military dictator, Samuel Moreno could be seen as a predictable victor in the 2007 race to govern the Colombian capital. However, after a bitter fight, Moreno can also be viewed as part of the wider tendency among Latin American big cities to provide left-leaning city chiefs in the post-Washington consensus era in the region.

Update November 2011: Gustavo Petro elected new Mayor of Bogota
Update: September 2011: Samuel Moreno jailed pending trial on corruption charges.

Update May 2011: Colombia's Inspector General suspended Mayor Morno pending an enquiry into corruption. The acting mayor is Clara López Obregón.

Samuel Gustavo Moreno Rojas studied at three universities in the Colombian capital and Havard in his (almost) native US, but it was his early period that was most likely to mark out his political future. Born outside of the country in Miami in 1960, Moreno’s early life was characterised by the political struggle within Colombia, with his parents and grandfather engaged in the turbulent political strife which affected both electoral and extra-parliamentary politics in the country. While Moreno is a leading member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), the principal opposition bloc to right-leaning President Alvaro Uribe, the party’s own path to formation provides an illusory tale of both Colombian politics and his own family’s central role within in it.

The Independent Democratic Pole (PDI) was formed as a left bloc in the Colombian congress, bringing together an array of disparate sections and interests, from indigenous groups to former Marxists. One of the currents within the PDI is the National Popular Alliance (ANAPO), founded by Moreno’s grandfather, the former military dictator (1953-57) Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, which later became a vehicle of protest against the fraudulent election of 1970 and the preservation of the National Front duopoly of the Liberal and Conservative parties. Samuel’s mother, María Eugenia Rojas de Moreno, then contested the 1974 presidential election, the first female presidential candidate in Latin America, on behalf of her father’s party. Moreno himself served as ANAPO’s youth coordinator (1982-85), Bogota coordinator (1985-87) and national coordinator (1987-2003).

Unlike Alvaro Uribe the PDI believes in a negotiated settlement with the FARC guerrillas (it should be mentioned his father was assassinated by them), who have waged a violent insurgency against the Colombian state from the countryside since the 1960s, though it does not endorse their struggle, in spite of being led by the former leader of the now disbanded M-19 guerrilla group. As well as the left-wing insurgency, the country is further destabilised by the presence of right-wing paramilitary groups, many linked to drug cartels and accused of murdering trade unionists, often in collusion with the state. The staunchly pro-US policies of the Uribe administration, both domestically and internationally, are often seen as a contributory factor for the international community’s lack of scrutiny of the human rights situation in the country. Colombia is the only large country in the region not currently governed by a left-of-centre president. In advance of the 2006 presidential elections won once more by Alvaro Uribe, it announced the formation of a new electoral alliance with the Democratic Alternative (DA), which was itself formed of sections which refused to join the PDI. The new alliance, the PDA, has nine out of 166 deputies and 11 of 100 senators in congress.

Like his mother and brother Ivan, Moreno is a former senator (1991-2006) and also attempted to secure the PDI presidential ticket in 2006 (alongside his predecessor as mayor, Luis Eduardo Garzón), before deciding to leave the senate to run for mayor of Bogota against the Uribe-sponsored candidate, former mayor Enrique Penalosa. The campaign was particularly bitter, even by Colombian standards, with Uribe and his supporters smearing Moreno as being linked to FARC rebels. Having defeated Penalosa 43.7% to 28.2%, possibly after Uribe’s remarks backfired, Moreno will take office in January 2008.

Bogota serves as the capital district of Colombia, housing all three branches of government. It is governed by the city-wide District Council of Bogota, comprising the elected mayor and city council, and 20 smaller local administrations, each with their own elected council and a mayor appointed by the principal mayor following nomination by their council. The capital district was originally created in 1955 by Moreno’s grandfather General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla by merging the city centre and surrounding municipalities, before being legally recognised by the new popular democratic constitution of 1991. Bogota also serves as the capital of the Department of Cundinmarca, while serving as a department itself, a constitutional technicality. There is also a Metropolitan Area of Bogota which exceeds the boundaries of the capital district (with a further 17 municipalities) but serves as a legally defined planning and statistical region for state and national government purposes.

World Mayor 2023