try to support the weakening government by shifting the balance of power away from his dangerous enemies. The Nuevo Liberalism joined the government and was given the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Gabriel Rosas Vega and the Liberal Party gained a solid union that consolidated further when Galán won the Liberal Party's popular nomination to be the presidential frontrunner. Galán was becoming popular for his open criticism and denunciation of drug cartel violence, he had promised to extradite drug dealers to the United States. He announced he would run for office on 4 July 1989 in the Tequendama Hotel in Bogotá. His popularity rating skyrocketed to 60%. Meanwhile, Escobar found some support in Tolima's political chief Alberto Santofimio affiliated also with a faction of the Liberal Party led by Alfonso López Michelsen and with a movement called Movimiento de Renovación Liberal (Liberal Renovation Movement) getting himself elected to the Chamber of Representatives as second runner up for Santofimios' congress candidate Jairo Rojas. Assassination According to accounts the first assassination threats were calls made to Galán's home telephone number after the Liberal Party convention to nominate an official candidate. Flyers were left in the mailbox threatening to kill or kidnap his children. An attempt to kill Galán with an RPG was thwarted while visiting Medellín on 4 August 1989. The assassination attempt was prevented by men working for Waldemar Franklin Quintero, the commander of the Colombian National Police in Antioquia. Accompanying Quintero and Galán was the mayor of Medellín, Pedro Pablo Peláez; both Peláez and Quintero would be killed within a few weeks of the assassination attempt. After these assassinations, Galán and his family restricted their travels, especially at night. Later on, Galán's staff received information from the Colombian intelligence services advising him of the presence in Bogotá of a group of hitmen with the intention to kill him. His staff advised him not to travel to the town of Soacha and that the trip to Valledupar was more suitable since he was also scheduled to attend a football match in nearby Barranquilla for a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification match in which the Colombian team was going to play. At the last moment, Galán changed his mind and ordered his staff to prepare to go to Soacha. On August 18, 1989, Galán, who was being protected by eighteen armed bodyguards, was killed as he walked onto the stage to give