New Liberalism (Colombia)

New Liberalism (Spanish: Nuevo Liberalismo) is a political party in Colombia. Originally founded by Luis Carlos Galán in 1979 as a dissident force of the Colombian Liberal Party and dissolved in the 1990s, the party was refounded in 2021 by two of his sons, Juan Manuel Galán Pachón and Carlos Fernando Galán.

New Liberalism Nuevo Liberalismo
Leader	Juan Manuel Galán Pachón
Founders	Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento
Founded	1979 (original) 2021 (refounded)
Dissolved	1990 (original)
Split from	Colombian Liberal Party
Youth wing	Pioneros
Ideology	Liberalism (Colombian) Social liberalism Cultural liberalism
Political position	Centre
National affiliation	Hope Center Coalition (2021–2022)
Senators	0 / 108
Seats in the Chamber of Representatives	2 / 188
Website
Nuevo Liberalismo
Politics of Colombia Political parties Elections

Running against both the conservatives and the mainstream Liberal Party, Galán lost the elections in 1982. He and his movement officially returned to the Liberal Party in 1987, but several of the members still considered themselves as part of a somewhat distinct entity. Back in the Liberal fold, Luis Carlos Galán appeared as the leading candidate in polls and hoped to be able to win the next presidential elections which would be held in 1990.

After Galán's assassination in 1989, any remnants of the original party had dissolved by the 1990s. At the legislative elections on 10 March 2002, the party won as one of the many small parties parliamentary representation.

In 2021, the party was revived following a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Colombia.^[1]

In the 2022 Colombian parliamentary election, the newly revived party managed to elect two candidates for congress, Julia Miranda and Juan Sebastián Gómez.

In the 2023 Colombian regional elections, the party won 2 governorships and 40 mayorships.^[2] Carlos Fernando Galán won the election for Superior Mayor of Bogotá.^[3] He was officially inaugurated as Mayor on 1 January 2024. His priorities as mayor include security, embracing new technologies, gender equality, education and job creation.^[4]

References

1. "El Nuevo Liberalismo resurge con Carlos Fernando Galán como alcalde electo". 31 October 2023.
2. "Así le fue al Nuevo Liberalismo, el partido de Carlos Fernando Galán, en las elecciones regionales: Tendrán 40 alcaldías y 2 gobernaciones". November 2023.
3. "Carlos Fernando Galán: "Ganamos. Ahora estamos obligados a que ganen todos"". 30 October 2023.
4. https://bogota.gov.co/en/international/inaugural-speech-carlos-fernando-galan-mayor-bogota ^{[bare URL]}