Alvaro Uribe Velez
During his last two years of High School, with his excellent academic record, he was exempted from final examinations, and as an honor student he was granted scholarships for the greater part of his university career.
Alvaro Uribe went into public service at a very young age. In 1976 he became head of the Real Estate Office of the Public Works Department of Medellín. From 1977 to 1978 he was Secretary General of the Labor Ministry and from 1980 to 1982, head of the Civil Aviation Department. He was the mayor of his native city of Medellín in 1982 and later, from 1984 to 1986, he was elected city councillor.
Alvaro Uribe was elected governor of the department of Antioquia for the 1995-1997 period, during which he developed a model of community participation in key government decisions such as the creation of new jobs, education, public procurement and security, which he called Community State.
During his term as governor, Alvaro Uribe reduced the number of government jobs by 34% and the number of official vehicles by 35%. Such savings in government spending meant schooling for 103,000 new students. As governor he also devised a program by which 40,000 people received training in the peaceful negotiation of conflict.
Also, 200,000 of Antioquia's poor became eligible for free health care under the national subsidized health insurance System.
Alvaro Uribe was also responsible for the paving of 939 kilometers of roads. More than double the length which the Department had paved in its entire history. And extensive repair work was done on the roads which link Antioquia with the nation's capital, Bogotá. The number of kidnapping cases in the department, went down by 60% due to the cooperation of the community with the local authorities.
He took the presidential oath of office on August 7, 2002, and will serve a two year term.
President of Colombia since 2002.
