Evening star., 1930-06-08
BY GASTON NERvAL.


South American President-elect
is actually living and working in
L the United States. Mr.. Enrique
Olaya Herrera, recently elected
Chief Executive of Colombia, is winding
up his work as Minister to the United
States before going down to his coun-
try to take the reinS OF government in
August. And the latter part of this
month the newly elected President of
the largest South American nation, DR.,
Julio Prestes of Brazil, will sail from
his country en- route to washington,
where he is expected about the middle
of June.
series of good will visits of presidents
elect, of which Mr.. Hoover's trip of
year and a half ago was the first ever
| made by a newly elected Chief Executive
of the United States. Within the past
10 years presidents-elect of Brazil,
Panama. the Dominican Republic, Mex
leo. Cuba and Haiti have visited wash
ington. Only at the end of last year
the President-elect of Mexico, DR.. Pas
cual Ortiz Rubio, paid a visit to Presi-
| dent Hoover, and was royalty enter
tanned and honored in official and dip
lomatic circles. Soon after he took office
in Mexico City, in typically Mexican
ceremony made spectacular by Grim
inal attempt upon his life, but he is
|
that picturesque and restless Latin re-
public.
Has Proved Popular Here.
To Senior Olaya goes. however, the
honor of being the first South american
president-elect to work in Washington,
| for after having won the presidential
election in his country he has returned
! to resume his duties as Colombian Min
lister, a post in which, during the last
| eight years, his unusual ability ana per-
sonal charm have won him prominent
place in the diplomatic and ofnclal cir
| cles of Washington.
Last January, while engaged in his
diplomatic work here, Senor Olaya was
urgently called upon by his polltlca!
| friends at home to head a National
Coalition" ticket for the presidential
elections which were to take place the
following month. He had already re-
fused a like invitation from his own
party, the Liberals, but THIS pelng an
offer from combination Oh par Raloies' .
rather a national nomination Jnan a
party one, the Colombian Minister coulo
not well say "I do not choose to pun. y
He had to run, and he did it almost
literally. for he had but a few days TO
make the Journey to Colombia, organize
his campaign, make addresses ali over
the country-and win the election. In
record breaking time, with the alrp,ane
| playinR a conspicuous part, Senor Olaya
did all this and something more-he OBJ
tanned the largest plurality OF votes ever
known in q Colombian presidential
If to all this we add the fact that
Senior Olaya was running against the
candidate of the party In poWer-a
hopeless contest in most Latin Amerl-
can countries-and that this party, tne
/ AoI in Tor
As consecutive years, 1t would seem
proof that certain men on earth are
destined to rule.
Two Significant Aspects.
The election of Senior Enrique Olaya
Herrera to the presidency OF Colombia
! has to the outside observer great sig
nificance in two aspects-one relatlng
to the political progress OF that young
Latin American republic, and the otneT
to its influence upon the political ana
economic relations of the United states
with the nations south Of the Rio
Let us consider first the domestic
| nolitical ASPECT. Since 1886-for A
years-the Conservative party had been
in power without interruption. During
this long period, and with the active
support of the church, which has until
now played prominent part IN Coiom-
bian politics, the Conservatives had IN
trenched themselves firmly in the gov
ernment, and little Importance was
given Liberal or opposition candidates
who sought to change the established
order. Three civil wars-in 1885, 1890
and l9O2-had failed to wrest the gov
ernment from the control Of the Con-
servatiVe party. The losses and injuries
to the nation in these three wars nave
- I -
600 600 Colombian pesos, considerable
national territory, and general set
back of so years in the material and
civic progress of the country.
Under these conditions, when the
presidential elections were approaching
public attention was centered exclu-
sively on the two Conservative candi-
dates-by this time the party was split
for it was assumed that only Con-
presidential chair. Besides, both the
Conservative candidates were men OF
highest reputation-one the outstanding
Colombian poet, Guillermo Valencia, a
statesman, political leader and scholar
of continental fame, and the other q
military and political leader OF great
power and influence, Gen. Vasquez
Cobo. Little Importance, therefore. was
attributed to the invitation OF the Lib
erals to Senior Olaya to become their
nominee, and but little more attention
was paid to the Colombian minister
acceptance of the candidacy on Ma
tional Coalition ticket which had tc
face the power Of almost half century
of traditional Conservative rule.
First Liberal in As Years.
However, that which three civil wars
had been powerless to obtain Senor Olaya
achieved in a peaceful and democratic
way. The national candidate" as he
was called from the time of his return
to Bogota, the Colombian capital, OBJ
tanned an electoral plurality larger than
that of any other candidate in the his
tory of the country, and for the first
time in As years the next Colombian
president will be a Liberal.
But what Is still more significant and
of more important bearing on Colon
bian political life is the sober, calm and
democratic acceptance OF this TACT by
the Conservatives. This is the real
lesson of Olaya's election in Colombia
and one which will do much for the
political prestige of Latin America IN IN
the rest of the world. Until recent
years Latin Americas connotation was
domesti political turmoil. An electoral
defeat in those nations meant conse-
uuent armed uprising, the unsuccessful
candidate usually leading new revolu-
ton. And, of course, those in power
were accustomed to selecting their sue
cessors, approving or rejecting them
after election as they pleased.
This time, however, Colombia has
given the world a lesson in democratic
practice which reveals a remarkable
change in the political attitude Of the
nation. After this election, which went
against the government party, the
way in which the Conservatives &C
cepted defeat and the way public opin-
ion in general became reconciled to this
surprising state of affairs and Yolun-