Gaviria Liberal — Apertura Económica, 1991 Constitution, BanRep autonomy

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Doctrinal rupture that combined Washington-Consensus market opening with a fully participatory constituent assembly. Five doctrinal pillars: (a) Apertura económica — unilateral tariff reduction from average 43.7% (1990) to 11.7% (1992); elimination of import licences; foreign-exchange regime liberalisation via Ley 9 (1991); labour reform Ley 50 (1990) introduced severance-fund portability and fixed-term contracts; Ley 100 (1993) created pension-reform IVM mixed public-private system. (b) 1991 Constitution — Constituent Assembly elected 9 December 1990, promulgated 4 July 1991; Liberals 25 / M-19 AD 19 / National Salvation 11 seats in 70-member body; new constitution introduced Corte Constitucional, tutela writ, BanRep independence Article 371, Defensoría del Pueblo, direct democracy mechanisms. (c) BanRep independence — Article 371 + Ley 31 (1992) constitutionalised central-bank autonomy with inflation-control primary mandate. (d) Narco endgame — Escobar surrendered June 1991 to La Catedral custom-built prison; escaped July 1992; killed 2 December 1993 by Bloque de Búsqueda; Medellín Cartel dismantled; Cali Cartel becoming dominant. (e) Drug policy — Ley 30 (1986 legacy) enforcement; Sometimiento a la Justicia plea-bargain framework. Stated school: Washington-Consensus + constitutional-democratic redesign. Left-right: economic right; socially-reformist on constitutional rights. Popularity: May 1990 Gaviria 47.9% vs Álvaro Gómez 23.7%; apertura approval mixed — textiles, agriculture hit hard; Escobar death boosted final-year approval ~60%; June 1994 Liberal Samper won runoff 50.6% vs Pastrana 48.5%. Coherence: trade import-substitution status quo and narco-state parallel structure for constitutional re-foundation, BanRep autonomy, unilateral trade opening, and Escobar's elimination.