Cecilia López Montaño
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
In office
August 7, 2022  April 26, 2023
PresidentGustavo Petro
Preceded byRodolfo Enrique Zea
Succeeded byJhenifer Mojica
In office
August 8, 1995  April 1, 1997
PresidentErnesto Samper
Preceded byGustavo Castro Guerrero
Succeeded byAntonio Gómez Merlano
Senator of Colombia
In office
July 20, 2006  July 20, 2010
Director of FONADE
In office
April 1, 1997  August 7, 1998
Minister of Environment
In office
August 1, 1994  August 1, 1995
PresidentErnesto Samper Pizano
Preceded byManuel Rodríguez Becerra
Succeeded byJosé Vicente Mogollón
Personal details
Born
Cecilia Matilde López Montaño

(1943-04-18) April 18, 1943
Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of the Andes
ProfessionEconomist
Websitewww.cecilialopez.com
www.cecilialopezcree.com

Cecilia Matilde López Montaño (born April 18, 1943) is an economist and Colombian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she has been appointed to several cabinet positions. On September 27, 2009, she was a runner-up in the presidential primaries and was the only female candidate amongst six other members of the party.

Biography

She began her education at the Parrish and La Enseñanza schools in Barranquilla. She graduated as an economist from University of the Andes in Bogotá and later received two postgraduate degrees from the Centro de Estudios Educativos, Mexico in Demography and the Economy of Education.

She was Department Head of a key unit at the National Planning Department (1978–1980); managing director of Fonade (1981–1982), Vice Minister of Agriculture (1982–1985); Ambassador of Colombia in The Netherlands (1985–1988); Director of PREALC, Regional Employment Program for Latin America and the Caribbean from International Labour Organization -ILO- and United Nations Organization -ONU-, (1988–1990), Director of the Social Security Department (1990–1992), President of Consenso (1992–1994); Minister of Environment (1994–1996); Minister of Agriculture (1996–1997); Director of the National Planning Department (1997–1998); International Consultant (1998–2006); President of Agenda Colombia Foundation, (2002–2006), and Senator of the republic of Colombia with the Liberal Party (2006–2010).

She has served as president of the Group of Parliamentarian Women of the Americas at the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA) in Canada. She has been active in Cartagena's Feminist Initiative.

Internationally, she has served on the board of directors of the Washington, D.C.-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); the World Wide Group of experts on Intellectual Property from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland; the International Water Management Institute located in Sri Lanka with Rawoo, the Advisory Council of the Dutch Government; and Globalization for Development in New York.

Within Colombia, she has served on the boards of Fedesarrollo and the Natura Foundation.[1]

On July 5, 2022, President-Elect Gustavo Petro said he would name her Minister of Agriculture.[2]

Senate of Colombia (2006 - 2010)

At the Senate, Ms. López is recognized for her strong political control on government issues such as: Colombia's economy, debates on the army's Human Rights violations with the Defense Minister, the Carimagua's land situation and its relationship with the displaced people's rights with the Agriculture Minister; the government's management of the financial crisis due to the pyramids case and a thorough study on the convenience for Colombia of the Free Trade Agreements with the United States and the European Union.

Concerning legislation, her most notable work is the presentation of the Bill for social transformation. This law promotes to redefine the national development model forcing the State to provide access to all Colombian citizens to a minimum amount of good quality services.

Acknowledgements

On July 20, 2008, the Senator was appointed the Colombian Liberal Party's spokeswoman. By the end of that year, she was nominated by her colleagues, and won Senator of the year award. A nationally recognized award presented by Canal RCN. At the same time, she was chosen by Revista Cambio, as the best member of the Colombian Congress.

Throughout her professional career, she has received the Cruz de Boyacá Medal, the most important recognition given by the Colombian Government to the citizens that have served the nation with honor. She also received the highest congressional decoration for her contribution to the country's development, and the Queen Beatrice of The Netherlands decoration for her role as Colombian Ambassador in that country.

Senator Lopez was the only female of seven Liberal Party candidates running for the party's nomination for the President of Colombia in 2009.

Writing

López has published and edited 14 books as well as academic and newspaper articles.

References

  1. Orozco Tascón, Cecilia (2022-01-30). ""Una cosa es ser petrista y otra ser realista": Cecilia López Montaño". ELESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  2. "¿Quién es Cecilia López, la ministra de Agricultura de Gustavo Petro?". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
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