Alfonso López Caballero
Colombia Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office
7 November 2002  7 December 2006
PresidentÁlvaro Uribe
Preceded byVíctor Guillermo Ricardo
Succeeded byCarlos Medellin Becerra
Minister of the Interior and Justice
In office
9 January 1998  7 August 1998
PresidentErnesto Samper
Preceded byCarlos Holmes Trujillo
Succeeded byNéstor Humberto Martínez
Colombia Ambassador to Canada
In office
1994–1998
PresidentErnesto Samper
Succeeded byFabio Avella Martínez
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
In office
25 November 1991  4 March 1993
PresidentCésar Gaviria
Preceded byMaría del Rosario Sintes
Succeeded byJosé Antonio Ocampo
Colombia Ambassador to France
In office
September 1990  November 1991
PresidentCésar Gaviria
Preceded byFernando Rey Uribe
Succeeded byÁlvaro Gómez Hurtado
Senator of Colombia
In office
7 August 1990  September 1990
Member of the Chamber of Representatives
In office
7 August 1986  7 August 1990
ConstituencyCundinamarca
Personal details
Born
Alfonso López Cabellero

(1944-08-17) 17 August 1944
Bogotá, Colombia
Political partyLiberal
SpouseJosefina Andrew (1969-present)
RelationsAlfonso López Pumarejo (grandfather)
María Michelsen Lombana (grandmother)
Parent(s)Alfonso López Michelsen (father)
Cecilia Caballero Blanco (mother)
Alma materGeorgetown University (B.Sc.)
INSEAD (MBA)
Columbia University (MA)
ProfessionEconomist

Alfonso López Caballero (born 17 August 1944) is a Colombian economist and diplomat, the son and grandson of former Presidents of Colombia, Alfonso López Michelsen and Alfonso López Pumarejo respectively, and former congressman, government minister, ambassador to France, Canada, the United Kingdom, and presidential candidate.

Background

Alfonso López Caballero was born in Bogotá, D.C., Colombia, to Alfonso López Michelsen and Cecilia Caballero Blanco on August 17, 1944, during the second presidency of his grandfather Alfonso López Pumarejo. He married on February 22, 1969, in Caracas, Venezuela, to Josefina Milagros Andreu Roca.[1]

Educated first in the traditional Gimnasio Moderno of Bogotá, he finally concluded his secondary education in the United States after following his family into exile in 1952, when during the government of Mariano Ospina Pérez La Violencia against liberals targeted his family and burned down his grandfather's house. Afterwards he attended Georgetown University, his father's alma mater, where he received his Bachelor of Science in International Relations with an specialization in Economics, from then he moved to France where he attended the European Institute for Business Administration, INSEAD and received a Master of Business Administration. He moved back to the United States where he entered Columbia University received his Master's in Economics, re-enlisted as a PhD candidate in Economics but did not finish.

Career

He started his professional career in the economic sector, first as Assistant Manager of CitiBank in Colombia, and then as a consultant for Arthur Young & Co.

López Caballero was ambassador to France, from where he returned to serve president Gaviria as his minister for agriculture. He served as ambassador to Canada and then returned to Colombia to serve as minister of interior.

López Caballero's effectiveness and his lack of interest for the spotlight is what led president Pastrana to appoint him as one of the government's negotiators during the peace process with the FARC communist guerrillas. During the peace negotiations he earned the respect and the trust of the top members of the guerrilla group, mainly due to his clarity, his understanding of the country and its politics, and more importantly, to the sincerity and openness with which López Caballero faced the multiple discussions . Earning this recognition from the FARC was seen as quite remarkable by some commentators given that López Caballero was clearly a representative of the political, social and economic elite of the country .

Going against his father's ideas once again, López Caballero supported Álvaro Uribe from the beginning of his presidential campaign while López Michelsen supported Horacio Serpa. López Caballero was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom by president Uribe where he was instrumental in strengthening commercial links and in gaining support for an offensive against the guerrillas, paramilitaries and organized crime .

References

  1. Restrepo Sáenz, José María; Rivas, Raimundo; Restrepo Posada, José (1995). Genealogías de Santa Fe de Bogotá: Volume 4 [Genealogies of Santa Fe de Bogotá: Volume 4] (in Spanish). Bogotá: Editorial Presencia. p. 389. OCLC 28546996. Alfonso López Caballero ...Casado en Caracas el 22 de febrero de 1969, con doña Josefina Milagros Andreu Roca
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.