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Virgilio Barco Vargas | |
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 Barco in 1991 | |
| 27th President of Colombia | |
| In office 7 August 1986 (1986-08-07) – 7 August 1990 (1990-08-07) | |
| Preceded by | Belisario Betancur |
| Succeeded by | César Gaviria |
| 20thColombia Ambassador tothe United Kingdom | |
| In office 9 November 1990 (1990-11-09) – 1992 | |
| President | César Gaviria |
| Preceded by | Fernando Cepeda Ulloa |
| Succeeded by | Luis Prieto Ocampo |
| 18thColombia Ambassador tothe United States | |
| In office 24 June 1977 (1977-06-24) – 11 December 1980 (1980-12-11) | |
| President | Alfonso López Michelsen |
| Preceded by | Julio César Turbay |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Mario Eastman |
| 6th Mayor of Bogotá | |
| In office 1966–1969 | |
| President | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
| Preceded by | Jorge Gaitán Cortés |
| Succeeded by | Emilio Urrea Delgado |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 23 April 1963 (1963-04-23) – 6 October 1963 (1963-10-06) | |
| President | Guillermo León Valencia |
| Preceded by | Cornelio Reyes Reyes |
| Succeeded by | Gustavo Balcázar Monzón |
| Minister of Finance and Public Credit | |
| In office 7 August 1962 (1962-08-07) – 5 September 1962 (1962-09-05) | |
| President | Guillermo León Valencia |
| Preceded by | Jorge Mejía Palacio |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Sanz de Santamaría |
| 8thColombia Ambassador tothe United Kingdom | |
| In office 16 June 1961 (1961-06-16) – 1962 | |
| President | Alberto Lleras Camargo |
| Preceded by | Alfonso López Pumarejo |
| Succeeded by | Alfredo Araújo Grau |
| Minister of Public Works | |
| In office 7 August 1958 (1958-08-07) – 9 November 1960 (1960-11-09) | |
| President | Alberto Lleras Camargo |
| Preceded by | Roberto Salazar Gómez |
| Succeeded by | Misael Pastrana Borrero |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Virgilio Barco Vargas (1921-09-17)17 September 1921 Cúcuta,North Santander, Colombia |
| Died | 20 May 1997(1997-05-20) (aged 75) Bogotá, Colombia |
| Resting place | Central Cemetery of Bogotá |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | |
| Children |
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| Alma mater |
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| Profession | Civil engineer |
| Website | Official website |
Virgilio Barco Vargas (17 September 1921 – 20 May 1997) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the27th President of Colombia serving from 7 August 1986 to 7 August 1990.
Barco was born inCúcuta in theNorte de Santander Department of Colombia to Jorge Enrique Barco Maldonado and Julieta Vargas Durán. He studiedCivil Engineering at theNational University of Colombia and at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology from which he graduated in 1943.[1] He entered politics in 1943 when he became a city council member for theLiberal Party in the town ofDurania. He was then elected to the lower house of Congress, but went into exile to the US in 1950 because of violence between liberals and conservatives. His daughter,Carolina Barco Isakson (who would later become a Colombian politician herself) was born there. He obtained an M.A. in economics at MIT, where he took classes underNobel Prize winnersRobert Solow andPaul Samuelson in 1952. In 1954 he obtained a PhD in economics from Boston University.[2]
Barco is the grandson of Colombian GeneralVirgilio Barco M., who developed one of the country's largest oil concessions in 1905.
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Barco returned to Colombia in 1954 to help negotiate the peace process which allowed the formation of theNational Front between liberals and conservatives, which lasted two decades. He became a member of theSenate, the upper house ofCongress in 1958, left to become the ambassador toBritain in 1961, and returned to Colombia in 1962. He served another term in the Senate until 1966, when he was electedmayor of Colombia's capital,Bogotá. He served in that position until 1969, when he became a director of theWorld Bank until 1974. He then served as ambassador to the United States from 1977 until 1980.
Barco was electedpresident of Colombia with 58% of the vote in 1986. He supportedanti-poverty programs, renewed dialogue withleftist guerillas and fought drug traffickers. Though he was popular within the international community, he became less popular in Colombia because the drug traffickers became more violent after he started to move against them. His restrictive economic policies at first doomed the country. After two years of this, The Economic Openness program was initiated by his administration, which would open Colombian markets to the world and recharge the country's economy. He served one 4-year term.
When he left the Presidency in 1990, he served as ambassador to Britain again until 1992.
Barco was diagnosed with cancer and he died on May 20, 1997, inBogotá when he was 75. He is now buried in theCentral Cemetery of Bogotá.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of Colombia 1986–1990 | Succeeded by |
