27 May 1990 1994 → 48.2% 23.9% | 2,891,808 1,433,913 | |
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Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 1990. In an election tarnished by violence, the result was a victory for César Gaviria of the Liberal Party, who received 48.2% of the vote.
Background
On 18 August 1989 Luis Carlos Galán, the Liberal Party's nominated presidential candidate and favourite for the election was assassinated. On 22 March 1990, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, the candidate of the Patriotic Union (UP), was assassinated, resulting in the UP pulling out of the elections. A third assassination occurred on 26 April, when the AD/M-19's candidate Carlos Pizarro Leongómez was killed. Pizarro was replaced by Antonio Navarro Wolff.
César Gaviria won the nomination for the Liberal Party candidacy in primary elections carried out on the same day as the March 1990 parliamentary elections. There had previously been an attempt to assassinate Gaviria when Avianca Flight 203 was bombed, but he was not on board.