Hernando Durán Dussán was a 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...

n lawyer and politician. He was the Mayor of Bogotá and a candidate for the Presidency

President of Colombia

The President of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of "la Gran Colombia"...

 in 1990.

Biography

Durán Dussán was born in Bogotá in 1920, of Huilan

Huila Department

Huila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.-Geography:The south of the department is located in the Colombian Massif...

 ancestry. He attended secondary school at La Salle in Bogotá and also attended Antonio Nariño College before receiving his license to practice law from the National University of Colombia

National University of Colombia

The Universidad Nacional de Colombia , also called UNAL or just UN, is a public, national, coeducational, research university, located primarily in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, Colombia...

.

Durán Dussán participated in a political protest movement during the presidency of Mariano Ospina Pérez

Mariano Ospina Pérez

Luis Mariano Ospina Pérez was a Colombian engineer and political figure, member of the Colombian Conservative Party. He served as President of Colombia between 1946 and 1950.- Biographic data :...

, for which he was sentenced to ten years in prison. He sought asylum in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 until a military junta

Military junta

A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...

 seized control of the government in 1958 and granted him amnesty, enabling him to return to Colombia.

Political career

Durán Dussán served as the head of the Ministry of Housing under Guillermo León Valencia

Guillermo León Valencia

Guillermo León Valencia Muñóz was a Colombian lawyer and statesman, who served as President of Colombia from August 7, 1962 to August 7, 1966.-Personal life:...

, the Ministry of Mines under Alberto Lleras Camargo

Alberto Lleras Camargo

Alberto Lleras Camargo was an important Colombian diplomat and political figure.He was a member of the Liberal Party of Colombia; he served as congressman , Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the governments of Alfonso López Pumarejo and Eduardo...

, and the Ministry of Education under Alfonso López Michelsen

Alfonso López Michelsen

Alfonso López Michelsen was a Colombian politician, lawyer and journalist. Lopez Michelsen was President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was the son of Alfonso López Pumarejo, who was also president of Colombia from 1934 to 1938, and once again from 1942 to 1945...

.

In the middle of the 1980s he became the president of 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...

. Durán was a staunch opponent of 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 leader of the New Liberalism

New Liberalism (Colombia)

Colombian politician Luis Carlos Galán founded the Nuevo Liberalismo in 1979, as a dissident force of the Colombian Liberal Party.Running against both the conservatives and the mainstream party, Galán lost the elections in 1982...

, and competed with him for the 1990 Liberal presidential nomination, but finished second to 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:...

, who replaced Galán after the latter's assassination and won both the Liberal nomination and presidency. After his defeat, Durán retired, and became a supporter of Álvaro Uribe

Álvaro Uribe

Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....

.

Death

After his retirement from politics, Durán moved to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, Malaysia in order to visit his daughter Sonia, the wife of the Colombian ambassador to Malaysia. Durán died in Kuala Lumpur of a respiratory infection in 1998 at the age of 78. His remains were returned to Colombia.