# Gabriel Becerra

Gabriel Becerra Yáñez (Latin American Spanish:; born February 4, 1976, in Cúcuta, Colombia) is a Colombian lawyer and politician, General Secretary of the Patriotic Union (UP) party, and manager of the Colombian Communist Party (PCC). Since 2022, he has been a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia for Bogotá, elected under the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition.
He was a student leader in the National Association of Secondary Students (Spanish: Asociación Nacional de Estudiantes de Secundaria, ANDES) and the Colombian Association of University Students (Spanish: Colombiana de Estudiantes Universitarios, ACEU). In 2002, He was General Secretary of the Colombian Communist Youth (JUCO).

## Life
### Family, education, and job

Gabriel Becerra was born in Juan Atalaya in the city of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander. He is the second child of 4 siblings. He is a graduate of the Juan Atalaya Integrated Departmental School with a bachelor's in Industrial-Metalworking. In the 90s, he moved to Bogotá, where he currently resides.
Becerra is a lawyer, receiving his law degree in 2009 and completing a major in Public Law in 2013 at the Autonomous University of Colombia. He holds a Master's in Political Studies and International Relations from the University of the Rosary, and as of 2021, he was a candidate for a Doctorate (PhD.) in Latin American Social Studies at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.
As of professional, he has been a legal advisor in the Regulatory Support Unit and Legislative Work Unit of the Council of Bogotá, the Colombian House of Representatives, and the Colombian Senate.
He is a columnist in Semanario Voz, the PCC's newspaper, and a member of the editorial committee of Revista Taller.

## Political career

He began his political activities as a student leader; in 1994, during his schooling, he was one of the founders of the National Association of Secondary Students (ANDES) and later in 1998, at University, he helped found the Colombian Association of University Students (ACEU).
During his time as a student leader, he began his involvement with the Colombian Communist Youth (JUCO), of which he became General Secretary of in 2002. Then, he became Political Secretary of the District Committee of the Colombian Communist Party (PCC).
As the manager of the PCC, he has promoted policies of alliance between the left-wing forces in Colombia, participating in the formation of coalitions like the Social and Political Front in 1999 and the Alternative Democratic Pole in 2005, where he was part of the national leadership team and its coordination of electoral campaigns.
He was one of the leaders during the process of reorganizing of the Patriotic Union (UP) after its fifth Congress, held in November 2013, after the return of its legal status as a party. At the 6th UP Congress, held in 2017, he was elected Secretary General.
In 2019, together with Gustavo Petro and Aída Avella, he contributed to the Humane Colombia/Patriotic Union alliance, as an electoral political agreement.

### Representative in the Chamber

In 2020, he was one of the founders and the coordinator of the promoting team that gave rise to the Historic Pact for Colombia, a coalition that brought together left-wing parties and movements in Colombia for the Presidential and Legislative Elections of 2022. This alliance allowed for the victory of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez in the Presidential race.
In those elections, he was a candidate for the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia of Bogotá as a Historic Pact candidate, participating with the legal endorsement of the UP and support of the PCC.He was eventually elected and took office on July 20, 2022.
He is part of the First Constitutional Commission, the Special Commission for Surveillance and Monitoring of the Electoral Body, and the Peace Commission. Among other issues, his legislative agenda emphasizes university and educational reform, dignified work and the statute of labor, political reform for democratic openness, and peace.