influence of former president Lleras and after directing the Nueva Frontera Magazine for seven years, in 1976 Galán ran for councilman in the small town of Oiba in the northeastern department of Santander. In 1977 and 1978 Galán became very active and supportive of Carlos Lleras reelection as president of Colombia while he ran for the Senate. The reelection never occurred, however, he got elected as Senator of Colombia representing the Santander Department. On 30 November 1979 Galán founded a party with the name Nuevo Liberalismo and within the Liberal Party. During the 1980s Colombia went under critical siege by violent drug cartels, specially the Medellín Cartel that had gained a great amount of influence by bribing or killing officials. Galán saw this as disastrous for Colombia and its society. In 1980 Galán was elected as councilman for the capital, Bogotá to be named the following year, in 1981 as possible candidate for the presidency of Colombia amid divisions in the Liberal Party that intended to challenge the majorities of the party led by Alfonso López Michelsen and then president Julio César Turbay, but voters leaned for the conservative candidate Belisario Betancur. For Galán it had been a positive outcome despite losing, his party Nuevo Liberalismo had gained a 10% of the total votes winning 21 of the 23 Department Assemblies and getting reelected as Senator but he had been criticised by the Liberal Party for creating divisions among them and indeed losing the Presidency. In 1982 Medellin cartel boss Pablo Escobar tried to infiltrate Galán's Nuevo Liberalismo Party. Galán publicly rejected him in front of thousands of his fellow men from Antioquia and Colombia. Galán continued with his ascendant career, absenting himself from the 1986 presidential race to prevent Liberal Party divisions and running his party as an offspring he was reelected once again as a Senator. This allowed the Liberal Party to regain the Presidency with the election of Virgilio Barco but at a terrible cost for his party that lost 50% of the votes gained in the previous election. It was only until the mediation of former president Julio César Turbay that Galán returned to the party in 1987 and intended to win the party nomination for official candidate. Galán was growing impatient with the violence and the corruption the drug cartels led by Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodríguez were imposing in Colombia, which encouraged him to