The death of one of Colombia's most controversial oligarchs

[Judi Lynn]

Carlos Ardila


by Adriaan Alsema August 15, 2021

The death of business mogul Carlos Ardila, one of Colombia’s most powerful oligarchs, was met with mixed emotions in the South American country.

Ardila died on Friday at 91, leaving his estimated net worth of $2.3 billion and a gigantic business empire to his four children.

A controversial legacy
The media and sugar magnate became one of Colombia’s most controversial entrepreneurs after getting a job in the soft drink company of his father-in-law, Gaseosas Lux, in the 1950s.

By the end of the 1950’s, Ardila had helped Lux acquire the rights to sell Pepsi in Colombia and buy the company’s biggest rival, Postobon, of which he initially became CEO.

Intervention in politics
The businessman was elected senator for the Conservative Party in 1974, but resigned after only a few weeks as Ardila believed that “businessmen should intervene in politics through their businesses,” according to his friend, former Congressman Rafael Serrano.

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Power over public opinion

In 1996, Ardila’s corporation saved Atletico Nacional after the 1993 death of drug lord and sports aficionado Pablo Escobar plunged the Medellin soccer club in crisis.

The businessman grew his political power through expanding RCN, which acquired one on Colombia’s two commercial television networks in the 1990’s.

By the turn of the century, Ardila’s influence over public opinion had made him one of the most powerful businessmen in Colombia.

RCN was one of the driving forces behind the 2002 election of far-right President Alvaro Uribe while Postobon allegedly sponsored paramilitary organization AUC.

Politics for profit
Uribe rewarded Ardila by leasing state-owned land in the southwestern Cauca province to Incauca, one of Ardila’s sugar companies, in 2005.

This deal created major tensions between Ardila and indigenous people from Cauca, who had been promised this land in compensation for a paramilitary massacre.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/the-death-of-one-of-colombias-most-controversial-oligarchs/