Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United States. Biographic data Turbay was born in a rich neighborhood of “Voto Nacional”, Bogotá, on June 18, 1916. His father, Antonio Amín Turbay, was a businessman who emigrated from Tannourine, Lebanon. His mother, Rosaura Ayala, was a peasant from the province of Cundinamarca. Turbay’s father, a hard working merchant, had built a fortune, which he completely lost during the civil war of the Thousand Days War. Turbay Ayala completed his secondary studies in Bogotá, but never attended college, and instead became an autodidact, a fact that his political adversaries always poked fun at. He received a number of honorary degrees later in life. Political career Turbay started his political career in the Liberal Party as a councilman in the (then) town of Usme in 1936. He would later be appointed as major of the city of Girardot (1937), and then councilman in the town of Engativá in 1938 along with fellow politicians Alfonso López Michelsen and Álvaro Gómez Hurtado. The next few years he spent as a member of the Assembly of Cundinamarca. In 1943 he was chosen for congress as a Chamber Representative. He was a leader of the opposition to conservative governments, and in 1953 became a member of the national directive of the liberal party. With the rise to power of the military Junta that ousted dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, Turbay was appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum. He was later appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by president Alberto Lleras Camargo until 1961. He was known as a strong defender of the National Front, and was chosen as senator for four consecutive periods between 1962 and 1974. He also served briefly as interim president in 1967. He was also appointed as ambassador the UN (1967-1969), United Kingdom (1973-1974), and the United States (1975-1976). He first attempted to become a presidential candidate in 1974, but ended up supporting López Michelsen, who won the elections that year. The sector supporting López Michelsen was instrumental in Turbay's presidential campaign of 1978, and after a very narrow election he became president of Colombia in 1978. Presidency 1978 Security Statute In response to an increase in guerrilla activity from the