Gustavo Rojas Pinilla

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Gustavo Rojas Pinilla : biography

March 12, 1900 – January 17, 1975

Colombian envoy to the United States

In 1943, he was sent to the United States to acquire weapons and other machinery for the Colombian military. In 1944, he became assistant director of the School of War, and in 1945 the director of Civil Aeronautics. It was there where he presented his project for airports in Colombia under the name "Tracks of landing in Colombia," which served as a dissertation for his promotion to colonel of the Army, a plan which he would subsequently bring into being with the El Dorado Airport and other airports during his later presidency.

Political career

On December 3, 1949, Rojas was appointed as Minister of Posts and TelegraphsLozano, Miguel Angel; Mariano Ospina Pérez, Un Hombre de Acción y de Principios, trans. Mariano Ospina Pérez, a man of action and principles; Universidad Nacional; Fundación de Estudios Históricos, Misión Colombia; Editorial El Globo, S.A.; Page 151; Bogotá, Colombia; 1991 (nowadays called Minister of Communications) in the government of President Mariano Ospina Pérez.1946-1950 De La Unidad Nacional a la Hegemonia Conservadora, Hernán Jaramillo Ocampo, Editorial Pluma, Printer Colombiana, Bogotá, 1980Ocampo Marín , Héctor; Mariano Ospina Pérez, El Presidente, trans. Mariano Ospina Pérez, the Presidente; Cámara de Comercio de Medellín para Antioquia; Imprenta Universidad de Antioquia; Page 146; Medellín, Colombia; June 2001, ISBN 958-9221-40-8

Rojas was a Colombian General of the Army, considered by some as military dictator of Colombia from 1953 to 1954. Although he led the coup d’état (June 13, 1953) to reestablish peace and political order in the nation,Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; Gobernantes Colombianos, trans. Colombian Presidents; Interprint Editors Ltd.; Italgraf; Segunda Edición; Page 216; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983 he was elected President of Colombia in 1954.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; Gobernantes Colombianos, trans. Colombian Presidents; Interprint Editors Ltd.; Italgraf; Segunda Edición; Page 263; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983

Biographic data

Rojas was born in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, on March 12, 1900, and died in Melgar, Tolima, on January 17, 1975.

Coup d’etat

On June 13, 1953, Rojas seized power by means of a political coup d’état supported by Liberals and Conservatives.

On May 10, 1957, the people of Colombia, dissatisfied with the government of Rojas, launched a massive national protest demanding his resignation. Rojas was ousted and the events of this day were called a “coup d’état of public opinion”. A military Junta of five Generals assumed the control of the nation.

The military Junta was integrated by: General Gabriel París Gordillo, General Rafael Navas, General Luis E. Ordóñez, General Deogracias Fonseca and Admiral Rubén Piedrahita. The Junta ruled until 1958, when a plebiscit adopted a 1886 Constitution as Magna Chart, and General Gabriel París Gordillo was elected as Chairman of the Colombian Military Junta of Government.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; Gobernantes Colombianos, trans. Colombian Presidents; Interprint Editors Ltd.; Italgraf; Segunda Edición; Page 227; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983

War with Peru

In 1932, Rojas was called to the front lines in order to defend the country in the war against Perú. The following year he was assigned to Buenaventura’s port as commander of the Coast Battery and military engineer of the region in case of a Peruvian attack. In 1936, he became an engineer of the technical department of the Colombian Army, ammunitions factory, on behalf of which he was sent on a special mission to Germany to obtain the machinery necessary to make ammunitions in Bogotá. On his return to Colombia he was nominated as chief of the technical department of the munitions factory.