Enrique Olaya Herrera - Political Career

Political Career

Olaya Herrera is a member of the "Centennial Generation" which date from 1925 to 1940 and grouped a bunch of ideologues and leaders in which were notable Alfonso López Pumarejo, Laureano Gómez, Eduardo Santos, Mariano Ospina Pérez, Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez, Luis López de Mesa, Luis Eduardo Nieto Caballero and others.

During the "Regeneration" period, Olaya Herrera attacked it as he became a journalist for the newspaper "El Autonomista" (The Autonomist) which was owned by Rafael Uribe Uribe and Ricardo Tirado Macias. Back in his hometown of Guateque Olaya Herrera maintained a newspaper called "El Soldado Cubano" (The Cuban Soldier) in which he showed his admiration for José Martí.

The bipartisan political convulsion between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party had escalated and provoked the thousand days civil war. Most of the centennial generation was pushed into the war to follow their political beliefs. Olaya Herrera was also pushed into active participation in politics along the Liberal Party. Olaya Herrera radicalized and joined the armed liberal militias led by General Cenón Figueredo. Olaya Herrera participated in a confrontation in the village of Nocaima, Cundinamarca.

After the war Olaya Herrera continued studying Law and finally graduated with a thesis named "La Liberacion Condicional" (The Conditional Freedom) and was published by the University. In 1904 he obtained a doctorate in jurisprudence and in 1906 he traveled to Belgium where he studied diplomacy and sociology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles focusing on diplomacy, politics and journalism.

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