Álvaro Uribe | |
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31st President of Colombia | |
In office 7 August 2002 – 7 August 2010 |
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Vice President | Francisco Santos Calderón |
Preceded by | Andrés Pastrana Arango |
Succeeded by | Juan Manuel Santos Calderón |
Senator of Colombia | |
Assumed office 20 July 2014 |
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In office 20 July 1986 – 20 July 1994 |
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Governor of Antioquia | |
In office 1 January 1995 – 1 January 1998 |
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Preceded by | Ramiro Valencia Cossio |
Succeeded by | Alberto Builes Ortega |
Mayor of Medellín | |
In office October 1982 – December 1982 |
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Appointed by | Álvaro Villegas Moreno |
Preceded by | Jose Jaime Nicholls Sánchez |
Succeeded by | Juan Felipe Gaviria Gutierrez |
Personal details | |
Born |
Álvaro Uribe Vélez 4 July 1952 Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia |
Political party | Democratic Center (2013–present) |
Other political affiliations |
Party of the U (2010–2013) Colombia First (2001–2010) Liberal (1977–2001) |
Spouse(s) | Lina María Moreno Mejía (m. 1979–present) |
Children |
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Alma mater |
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Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Signature | |
Website | www |
Álvaro Uribe Vélez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalβaɾo uˈɾiβe ˈβeles]; born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 2002 to 2010.
Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He has held office in the Empresas Públicas de Medellín and in the Ministry of Labor and was the director of the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics (1980–1982). Later he held office as the mayor of Medellín in 1982, then he was Senator between 1986 and 1994 and finally Governor of Antioquia between 1995 and 1997 before he was elected President of Colombia in 2002. Before his current role in politics Uribe was a lawyer. He studied law at the University of Antioquia and afterwards attended Harvard Extension School, where he received a Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management in 1993.
In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid. In 2012 Uribe and a group of political allies founded the Democratic Center movement to contest the 2014 national elections. He was elected senator in the 2014 parliamentary election and took office in July 2014.
Álvaro Uribe was born in Medellín, the oldest of five children. His father, Alberto Uribe Sierra, was a landowner. At the age of 10 his family left their Salgar ranch and moved to Medellín. He graduated in 1970 from the Jorge Robledo Institute. His academic performance exempted him from all final exams during the last two years of school.
Uribe studied Law at the University of Antioquia and he graduated in 1977. Uribe's father was killed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas during a 1983 kidnapping attempt. After his father's death, Álvaro Uribe focused his political career and became a member of the center-left Colombian Liberal Party. He served on the Medellín city council between 1984 and 1986.