In May 1990, presidential elections were held in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. The elections were characterized by the extreme violence by the drug traffic mafia, headed by Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...

. The four presidential candidates were killed: Luis Carlos Galán

Luis Carlos Galán

Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento was a Colombian journalist and liberal politician who ran for the presidency of Colombia on two occasions, the first time representing the Liberal Party in 1982 which he lost to Belisario Betancur...

, the one leading the polls and running for the Colombian Liberal Party

Colombian Liberal Party

The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...

, and Jaime Pardo Leal

Jaime Pardo Leal

Jaime Pardo Leal was the candidate of the Patriotic Union for the presidency of Colombia in the 1986 elections.Members of the Patriotic Union became the target of multiple death threats and assassination attempts...

, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa

Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa

Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa was a Colombian politician member of the Colombian Communist Party...

, and Carlos Pizarro.

Galán's debate chief, César Gaviria

César Gaviria

César Gaviria Trujillo is a Colombian politician and a Latin American statesman. He served as President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 until 2004.-Early life:...

, was declared as his successor; he ran for the elections, and the Avianca Flight 203

Avianca Flight 203

Avianca Airlines Flight 203 was a Colombian domestic passenger flight from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali. It was destroyed by a bomb over the municipality of Soacha on November 27, 1989....

was bombed in the attempt to assassinate him, but he was not on board. Finally he won the elections.