Introduction
Fuad Ricardo Char Abdala (born 5 October 1937) is a Senator of Colombia serving his fifth term in Congress, albeit not all consecutively.
Family
Fuad was the son of Ricardo Char Zaslawy, a Syrian immigrant who arrived in Colombia in 1926, and Erlinda Abdala a daughter of Syrian immigrants; the eldest out of seven kids, his other siblings were Habib, Farid, Simón, Ricardo, Mary and Mike. His uncle, Nicólas had started a business that quickly grew profitable, and the family moved to Barranquilla in 1952, where they started what would become Olímpica S. A, a regional drugstore chain that would make his family one of the most influential in the Colombian Caribbean Coast. It grew into a conglomerate that included, the radio station Olímpica Stéreo, and the ownership of Junior Barranquilla. Fuad, married his first cousin Adela Chaljub Char, daughter of Antonio Chaljub, an immigrant from Lebanon and Rosa Char Zaslawy, his aunt from Syria. Together they had three sons: Antonio, Arturo, and Alejandro. After becoming a widower in 1994, he remarried in 2004 to Maria Mercedes de la Espriella.