Pardo Leal, Jaime (1941–1987)

Jaime Pardo Leal (b. 1941; d. 11 October 1987), Colombian politician. Born in Ubáque, Cundinamarca, the son of a farmer, Pardo was sent to Bogotá to study. From the age of thirteen, he was involved in student protests and political action. At twenty, while a law student at the National University, he became vice president of the Federation of Colombian Students and was expelled from the university. In 1963, having nearly completed his law studies, he became a court clerk in Bogotá. A university amnesty in 1966 enabled Pardo to receive his law doctorate. He secured a judgeship in 1969. He organized Asonal, the national association of judicial workers in 1974, and led it in several nationwide strikes. From 1979 to 1985, Pardo was a magistrate on Bogotá's Superior Court. As Unión Patriótica's presidential candidate in the March 1986 elections, he polled 4.5 percent of the vote. From 1986 to 1987, more than 450 Unión Patriótica members were killed. Among them was Pardo, who was assassinated at La Mesa, Cundinamarca.

See alsoColombia: Since Independence .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Phil Gunson, Andrew Thompson, and Greg Chamberlain, The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America (1989), pp. 74-76, 214-215, 248-249.

Jenny Pearse, Colombia: Inside the Labyrinth (1990), pp. 227-228, 247, 269-271, 279, 280-283.

Additional Bibliography

Dudley, Steven S. Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Matta Aldana, Luis Alberto. Poder capitalista y violencia política en Colombia: Terrorismo de estado y genocidio contra la Unión Patriótica. Bogotá, D.C.: Edición Ideas y Soluciones Gráficas, 2002.

                                   J. LeÓn Helguera