Carlos Alberto Baena

Carlos Alberto Baena López
Senator of Colombia
In office
20 July 2010 (2010-07-20) – 20 June 2014 (2014-06-20)
Councillor of Bogotá
In office
2001 (2001) – 2009 (2009)
Personal details
Born (1967-11-12) 12 November 1967
Armenia, Quindío, Colombia
Nationality Colombian
Political party Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation
Alma mater Universidad Externado de Colombia
Profession Lawyer
Religion Neo-Pentecostal
Website www.carlosalbertobaena.com
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Baena and the second or maternal family name is López.

Carlos Alberto Baena López (born 12 November 1967) is a Colombian lawyer and politician, who served as Senator of Colombia from 2010 to 2014.[1] Baena is a co-founder of the Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (MIRA) and currently serves as Party Chairman. Before ascending to Congress, Baena served as Councillor of the Bogotá City Council from 2001 to 2009.[2]

Baena also serves as the General Preacher in the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International.[3][4]

Political career

In 2000, Baena co-founded the Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (MIRA); that same year he was elected as Party Chair serving until 2003. In 2001, Baena was elected to the Bogotá City Council of Bogotá for the first time, as member of the MIRA party.[1] He was consecutively re-elected twice as Councillor in 2004, and in 2008. During his time in office, Baena was acknowledged five times as the best City Councillor by the political watchdog group Bogotá Cómo Vamos.[5]

In 2010, Baena ran for a seat in the Senate of Colombia as the third-in-line of the closed-electoral list of the MIRA party, headed by Senator Alexandra Moreno Piraquive. The party received 324,109 votes in the parliamentary elections, which gave them three seats in the Senate, Baena taking one of these.[6]

Political positions

Baena proposed and promoted a bill, that ultimately became law, that penalizes every form of discrimination, included discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

He is supportive of the decriminalization of psychoactive drugs consumption,[7] and the creation of supervised injection sites and harm reduction policies, in order to offer medical assistance to substance dependent-individuals.[8][9]

Recognition

Baena was acknowledged several times as the best Bogotá City Councillor by the political watchdog group Bogotá Cómo Vamos. He received this acknowledgment for the first time during the first semester of 2005[5] and later on, four times consecutively from 2006[5][10] to 2007.[5][11][12] In 2006, his Bogotá City Council colleagues chose him as one of the three best Councillors of Bogotá.[13] In the first semester of 2008[14][15] and in 2009, Baena and his party colleague, Councillor Humberto Quijano, were acknowledged as the best political coalition in the Bogotá City Council.[16][17]

In 2011, while serving as Senator, he was acknowledged by the Bogotá City Council as one of the most representative leaders who have been part of the Council of Bogotá.[18][19] In 2012 he was declared Honorary Citizen of Quibdó by Mayor Zulia Mena García for his work in Congress towards protecting the rights of Afro-Colombians.[20][21]

Personal life

Carlos Alberto was born on 12 November 1967 in Armenia, Quindío, to Alberto Baena and Gladys López. He is married to Lydia Raquel Hernández Corredor with whom he has four daughters.[22] He attended Universidad Externado de Colombia where he graduated in Law and completed a specialization in Tax Management. He later attended University of the Andes where he obtained a Master of Public Administration, and completed further programs in Negotiation and High Government Studies.[23][24]

Controversy

Carlos Alberto Baena, promotor[25] of the Law 1482 of 2011 by which punitive measures are set against racism and discrimination[26] appeared on a video[27] in which Maria Luisa Piraquive, cofounder of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International, was seen stating that people with physical disabilities cannot preach from the pulpit of the church because of "what the people may say" and "aesthetic reasons",[28][29][30] reasons that, according to her, may cause a negative impact on the faith of newcomers to the church. However, it was found that the controversial video was the pivotal point of a powerful smear campaign, in which there was participation of other political parties and, directly or indirectly, participation of the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia.[31] Such smear campaign directly impacted the MIRA party,[32] and it became apparent that the objective was Baena´s party, since the video was filmed more than 8 years before it was released by media during the 2014 incidents,[33] precisely two months prior the 2014 Colombian parliamentary election. In addition, in the complete video Maria Luisa states that anyone can preach in the church if God tells them to do so.

As a result of this media attack to Baena´s party, it became publicly known that Dora Landázuri, one of the MIRA party´s candidates to the 2014 Colombian parliamentary elections, is a physically disabled African-Colombian woman,[34] which left no ground for accusations against Baena or his party on the basis of discrimination towards physically disabled people.

Selected works

References

  1. 1 2 Congreso de la República de Colombia (2010). "Senado de la República de Colombia" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Carlos Alberto Baena López" (in Spanish). Congreso Visible. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  3. ↑ El Tiempo (18 April 2009). "Los 'apóstoles' del Concejo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Rosa María Cieza Hurtado (19 January 2013). "Nuestro pastor general Carlos Alberto Baena I" (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Martínez García, Oscar (2008). Cuatro años de trabajo en el Concejo de Bogotá 2004-2007 (in Spanish). Bogotá Colombia: Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos. p. 146. ISBN 978-958-8402-09-3.
  6. ↑ Colombia, National Electoral Council. "Votación Candidatos Senado" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Elespectador.com (31 January 2013). "Advierten que propuesta del Gobierno llevaría a legalizar droga en Colombia" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Senado de Colombia (20 April 2012). "MIRA define posición frente a "política antidrogas" (Noticiero del Senado)" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  9. ↑ Prensa Senado (Senador Carlos Baena) (30 January 2013). ""Se inició la legalización de las drogas en Colombia": senador Carlos Baena" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  10. ↑ Guatibonza, Giovanni (May 2007), "El desempeño de los concejales durante el segundo semestre de 2006", Concejo Cómo Vamos (in Spanish), Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos (Boletín No. 7): 16, ISSN 1794-0524, retrieved 24 June 2013
  11. ↑ Eltiempo.com (27 September 2007). "El Concejo de Bogotá se hizo sentir durante el primer semestre del 2007" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  12. ↑ Guatibonza, Giovanni (May 2008), "Evaluación del II semestre de 2007" (PDF), Concejo Cómo Vamos (in Spanish), Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos (Boletín No. 9): 16, ISSN 1794-0524, retrieved 22 June 2013
  13. ↑ Caracol Radio (18 December 2006). "Héctor Zambrano y Omar Mejía, los mejores funcionarios del año en Bogotá" (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  14. ↑ Revista Semana (17 September 2008). "Los mejores y peores del Concejo de Bogotá" (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  15. ↑ Rodríguez del Gallego, Alexandra; Malagón, Edinson; Borja, Pedro Nel (December 2008), "Desempeño consolidado del primer semestre de 2008" (PDF), Concejo Cómo Vamos (in Spanish), Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos (10): 4, ISSN 1692-8776, retrieved 24 June 2013
  16. ↑ Rodríguez del Gallego, Alexandra; Malagón, Edinson; Borja, Pedro Nel (September 2009), "Ranking de bancadas y resultados individuales de sus miembros" (PDF), Concejo Cómo Vamos (in Spanish), Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos (12): 4, retrieved 22 June 2013
  17. ↑ Borja, Pedro Nel (September 2009), "Desempeño de las bancadas en el Concejo" (PDF), Boletín Virtual Concejo Cómo Vamos - Septiembre 2009 (in Spanish), Iniciativa Concejo Cómo Vamos (September 2009): 11, retrieved 22 June 2013
  18. ↑ "Condecorado en el Concejo de Bogotá el Senador Carlos Alberto Baena" (in Spanish). 3 February 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "Condecorado en el Concejo de Bogotá el Senador Carlos Alberto Baena" (in Spanish). 1 February 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  20. ↑ Periódico MIRA (23 May 2012). "Condecorado Senador Carlos Alberto Baena en el Chocó" (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. ↑ Espartaco (25–31 May 2012). "Politicosas" (in Spanish). Chocó 7 días online newspaper. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  22. ↑ El Tiempo (16 June 2007). "El concejal mejor calificado por 'Concejo, cómo vamos' busca 250 mil votos para la Alcaldía" (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  23. ↑ Movimiento Político MIRA (7 July 2011). "Carlos Alberto Baena López" (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  24. ↑ Senador Carlos Alberto Baena. "Carlos Alberto Baena López" (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  25. ↑ "Carlos Alberto Baena, Trabajando por la No Discriminación". Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ley 1482 de 2011" (in Spanish). Senate of the Republic of Colombia. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  27. ↑ "Movimiento MIRA guarda silencio sobre polémica por discriminación física en video". RCN Radio. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  28. ↑ "La discriminación de la iglesia de la senadora Piraquive". Revista Semana (in Spanish). 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "Escándalo por discriminación en iglesia cristiana contra discapacitados". El Espectador (in Spanish). 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  30. ↑ "Madre de senadora Piraquive critica a personas discapacitadas". La W Radio (in Spanish). 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  31. ↑ Costa Noticias (20 January 2014). "Persecución contra el MIRA es sistemática, política, religiosa y judicial" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  32. ↑ Emancipación Colombia (January 2014). "Persecución pre-electoral contra el MIRA" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  33. ↑ La Crónica del Quindío Newspaper (21 January 2014). "Piraquive, un florero de llorente; la exclusión la vivimos siempre" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  34. ↑ United Nations Development Programme, PNUD (January 2014). "EN BOGOTÁ, PNUD Y MININTERIOR ENTRENAN A CANDIDATAS AL CONGRESO DE LA REPÚBLICA" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2014.
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