Ernest Samper

Ernesto Samper Pizano (Bogotá, August 3, 1950) is a Colombian lawyer, economist and politician, member of the Colombian Liberal Party. Samper has held various positions throughout his career as a politician.: He has been a councilor for Bogotá, senator, deputy for Cundinamarca, Colombian ambassador in Spain, Minister of Development and finally President of the Republic of Colombia between August 7, 1994 and August 7, 1998. In July 2014 he was elected Secretary General of UNASUR to preside over this international organization, period that ended on January 31, 2019.

Family

Descendant of aristocratic and illustrious Colombian families of immediate Spanish origin. Her great-great-grandfather was the poet Diego Fallon and her great-great-grandmother Felisa Pombo Rebolledo was the sister of the poet Rafael Pombo; who were grandchildren of Beatriz O'Donnell Anetham, sister of the Count of La Bisbal, Enrique O'Donnell, and the aunt of the I Duke of Tetuán, I Count of Lucena and I Viscount of Aliaga, Leopoldo O' Donnell, all descendants of the O'Donnell dynasty.

Samper is the grandson of the writer and humanist Daniel Samper Ortega (founder of the Modern Gym), great-grandson of Tomás Samper Brush and great-great-grandson of the politician Miguel Samper Agudelo. His great-uncle, Ernesto Samper Mendoza, was the pilot of the plane in which Carlos Gardel was traveling when the accident in Medellín occurred, in which the musician died. In addition, he is the nephew of the architect Germán Samper Gnecco, brother of the journalist and writer Daniel Samper Pizano, uncle of the journalist, writer and youtuber Daniel Samper Ospina and father of the politician and former deputy minister of justice Miguel Samper Strouss. Finally, by collateral line, he is the nephew of José Alejandro Cortés, owner and president of the board of directors of Grupo Bolívar.

Biography

He was born in Bogotá on August 3, 1950. He is the son of journalist Andrés Samper Gnecco and his wife Helena Pizano de Samper. He studied high school at the Gimnasio Moderno, graduated as a lawyer and economist at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and completed a specialization in capital markets in Mexico at the Compañía Nacional Financiera.

On the other hand, he has been a professor of “Colombian Realities” at the Central University of Bogotá; of "Economic Development" from the Javeriana University; "Capital Market" from the Universidad de los Andes; and "Global Integration Processes" at the Grancolombiano Polytechnic in Bogotá. He has also taught at European universities as visiting professor on "Latin America and Globalization" at the Universities of Salamanca and Alcalá de Henares in Spain; and at the Institute for Higher Studies in Latin America at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Political career

A member of the Colombian Liberal Party since he was young. He was president of the National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF) from 1974 to 1981. In 1982, former president Alfonso López Michelsen called him to be the manager of his re-election campaign, but they were defeated by the conservative Belisario Betancur. After the presidential campaign, he began his electoral career as a deputy for Cundinamarca (1982-1984), a councilor for Bogotá (1982-1986) and a member of the Senate (1986-1990) at the time when he consolidated himself within liberalism. his People Power movement.

This movement had a favorable reception at the national level that projected Samper at the national level due to his youth and vigor, and consideration as a successor of the New Liberalism. Members who began their political journey were active there, such as Álvaro Uribe Vélez, former president of the Republic, José Name Teran, former senator from Córdoba, who distanced himself from the movement after endorsing Fuad Char for the Atlántico Governorship, Aurelio Iragorri, former senator from Cauca and leader of the Partido de la U, Alfonso Lopez Caballero, Colombian diplomat and former senator, Alfonso Valdivieso and José Blackburn, leaders of the New Liberalism, among others.

Samper was a figure of the Liberal Renovation of that time, and had the support of most liberal leaders, including the assassinated presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan on the occasion of supporting the candidate for mayor of Bogotá Carlos Ossa Escobar, In the 1988 elections, according to various interviews since he made his political alliance with Galán, he was targeted by threats from armed groups.

While he was a presidential candidate for his party, on March 3, 1989, he was preparing to board a flight at the Puente Aéreo Terminal in Bogotá and, while he was talking with the leader of the Patriotic Union, José Antequera, he was seriously injured during the flight. attack in which Antequera was assassinated by a young paramilitary hitman. Samper remained in critical condition for several weeks but managed to recover.

In the popular consultation of liberalism to choose a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic in 1990, he came in third place, behind the winner César Gaviria Trujillo and former minister Hernando Durán Dussán. That same year he was appointed Minister of Development by President Gaviria. Between 1991 and 1993 he served as Colombia's ambassador to Spain.

1994 Presidential Election

Presidency (1994-1998)

Post-presidency

He finished his term in 1998 and since then has published studies on globalization and governance in Latin America such as the compilation "Nosotros los del Sur" and the book "The Global Leap".

Between 2002 and 2012 he was an academic and coordinator of the Biarritz Forum, a scenario for study and a meeting between Europe and America. He currently serves as President of the Escenarios Corporation and the Vivamos Humanos Corporation.

Unasur Secretary

For 20 years, Samper was hidden from the public eye. He is one of the few former presidents who does not make statements about the governments in power, unlike his political chief César Gaviria, his rival Andrés Pastrana; and Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos, who still influence national politics.

In 2014, he was elected by the United Nations as Secretary General of Unasur, a position in which he held for a period, and then re-elected until 2017. However, his country withdrew from Unasur, two years later.

Truth Commission

In 2019, he was summoned by the JEP to declare his participation in the murder of the conservative leader Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, within the framework of process 8000, to which he declared that he had not participated in the act, being the first former president of the republic to go to the special justice court for peace.

Government of Gustavo Petro

Samper joined the presidential campaign of the left-wing leader Gustavo Petro in early April 2022, even going so far as to invite the president of liberalism, his predecessor César Gaviria, to turn his efforts as a party leader to supporting filled Petro's campaign. Elected Petro in June of that year, Samper publicly celebrated his election. He was even invited to Petro's inauguration ceremony on August 7, 2022.

One of his former ministers, Cecilia López, was appointed by Petro in the new cabinet as agriculture minister. She also became one of the advisors and defenders of the Petro government, supporting her initiatives in various national media outlets, such as total peace and the Bogotá underground metro.

Marriages

Samper married Silvia Arbeláez for the first time, a union from which Andrés Samper Arbeláez was born. Later, he married Jacquin Strouss Lucena, and from that union Miguel and Felipe Samper Strouss were born.

Works

• Opening " modernization ". (1998)
• For the rights of people. (CIC, 1998)
• Culture, collective task (Presidency of the Republic, 1995)
• Written. (Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, 1998)
• Colombia in Germany. (Colombia International Policy, 1996)
• Towards the second phase of the opening. (National Printer of Colombia, 1994)
• 100 days of social jump (National Printer of Colombia, 1994)
• A new policy for life (Presidency of the Republic, 1994)
• Towards an alternative development model (Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, 1990)
• The time of the people (National Printer of Colombia, 1994)
• The Time of the People (National Printer of Colombia, 1994
• Colombia comes forward! (E.C.M. Impresores, 1989)
• Here I am and here I stay (El Ancora, 2000)
• For who was the coffee bonanza (Third World Editions, 1978)
• Development tests (ANIF, 1977)
• Written (Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, 1998)
• Find the Elephant (Santiago Medina, Manager of the Samper Presidential Campaign)