Cesar Gaviria – Keynote Speaker

Former President of Colombia

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Cesar Gaviria Profile Picture

Specialist Subjects

  • International Politics
  • Development
  • Negotiation

Language

  • Spanish

Biography

Former Colombian President César Gaviria –known in Latin America as a conflict mediator, advocate of democracy, staunch supporter of regional integration and defender of human rights– was first elected OAS Secretary General in 1994 and re-elected for a second term in 1999.

 

Through his strategy for a “New Vision of the OAS,” César Gaviria fostered profound institutional changes that reinvigorated the inter-American agenda and prepared the Organization to meet the challenges the region faces today. During Gaviria’s tenure, the OAS intensified efforts to improve hemispheric security and combat terrorism, drugs and corruption.

 

César Gaviria began his career at age 23, immediately after obtaining his degree in Economics from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, when he was elected councilman in his hometown of Pereira. In 1974 he was elected to Colombia’s House of Representatives. He rose to the top position in the House in 1983. In 1986 Gaviria became co-chair of the Colombian Liberal Party, a position he held during the successful presidential campaign of the party’s candidate, Virgilio Barco. Mr. Gaviria served in the Barco administration first as Minister of Finance and later as Minister of the Interior. In early 1989, he left the government to manage the presidential campaign of Senator Luis Carlos Galán. Following the brutal murder of Senator Galán by drug traffickers, the Liberal Party chose César Gaviria as its candidate. He was elected President of Colombia in May 1990. During his four-year term (1990-94) he enacted policies to strengthen democracy, promote peace and reintegrate armed rebels into civilian life. In 1991, through a plebiscite and elected constitutional assembly, Colombia drafted a new, more democratic constitution.

 

After his last OAS term ended, Gaviria successfully created The Otun Group, an international business advisory firm located in New York City. Returning to Colombia in 2005 after several visits in 2004, Gaviria once again became active in politics and was proclaimed as the sole chief of the Colombian Liberal Party in June 2005. He has declared that his goal was to promote the party’s reunification in order to make it a viable alternative in the 2006 presidential elections.

 

An engaging and insightful speaker, Mr Gaviria is in great demand by audiences eager to benefit from his experiences as the key player in the transformation of the OAS and the modernization of Colombia.

 

Publications
• “El Sistema Interamericano para la Protección y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos” (2001)
• “La Integración Regional en un Mundo Globalizado: liderazgos, desafíos y capacidad de gestión” (1999)
• “Las Bases de la Nueva Colombia: El Revolcón Institucional” (1994)

 

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