Ernesto SAMPER PIZANO (Board Member, 2025 – present)

Ernesto SAMPER PIZANO, Colombia, lawyer and economist, was the 37th President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. Throughout his distinguished political career, he has held positions as President of National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF), member of the Council of Bogota, member of Cundinamarca government, Senator, Minister of Development, Colombian Ambassador to the United Nations, on two occasions, and Ambassador to Spain. He was also Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) between 2014 and 2017.

During his presidential mandate, Samper led important initiatives at the international level, notably as President of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) between 1994 and 1998. His foreign policy was marked by the doctrine of respice similia (peer-to-peer approach) and the strengthening of South-South cooperation. He is recognised as one of the greatest advocates of Latin American integration in Colombia, convinced of the need to build a technically equipped region, empowered in its international projection and strengthened by political renewal.

After the end of his presidency, he founded the “Corporación Escenarios”, a think-tank dedicated to researching, analyzing and promoting Latin American integration, as well as building a solid regional agenda. From this space, he has developed the Solidarity Model, a proposal designed to overcome the neoliberal model, focusing on the reduction of inequalities, the generation of value, the construction of citizenship, the ecological transition and the strengthening of a new institutional framework for effective governance.

His tenure as Secretary General of UNASUR (2014-2017) was key to consolidating this mechanism as the most robust in the region. Under his leadership, significant progress was made in political coordination in Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the initiatives he promoted include:

  1. The South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS).
  2. Regional infrastructure through COSIPLAN.
  3. An alternative proposal to address the drug problem.
  4. The South American Defence Council.
  5. The UNASUR Medicines Price Bank.
  6. The South American Energy Council.

Ernesto Samper has published more than 30 books on topics such as social policies, peace, Latin American integration and alternative solutions to the drug problem. His works include El Grito Latinoamericano (The Latin American Cry) and El Salto Global (The Global Leap). Through the Corporación Escenarios, he promoted the creation of the Diploma on Integration in Latin American and the Caribbean at the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

In addition, he has taught at renowned institutions such as the Universidad Externado of Colombia, Universidad Central, Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Andes, and the Politécnico Grancolombiano, where he taught on economic development, global integration and Colombian realities. He has also been a visiting professor at prestigious European universities such as Salamanca, Alcalá de Henares and the Sorbonne, giving lectures on Latin America and globalisation.