Gustavo Bell
Gustavo Adolfo Bell Lemus is a Colombian politician, lawyer, economist and diplomat who served as vice president of Colombia from 1998 to 2002 under the administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango, during which time he also served concurrently as High Commissioner for Human Rights of Colombia and as Minister of National Defence between 2001 and 2002. He also served as the Colombian ambassador to Cuba from 2011 to 2017. In 1992, as the 53rd governor of Atlántico, he became the first popularly elected governor of the department following the enactment of the 1991 Colombian Constitution.
Career
Education
Bell attended the Pontifical Xavierian University where he obtained a double degree in laws and socioeconomics. He completed graduate studies at the University of the Andes on a Constitutional Bicentenary scholarship from the Bank of the Republic |Bank of the Republic, the Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos at Seville on a research scholarship from Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and St Antony's College, Oxford on a British Council scholarship, where he also obtained a Ph.D. in modern history.In addition to his academic studies, Bell was one of the founding members and part of the faculty of the University of the North in Barranquilla.
Journalism
Bell began his work in journalism in El Heraldo, and quickly rose to become one of the most influential journalists in northern Colombia. While working as Executive Editor of El Heraldo, Bell suffered an assassination attempt but escaped unharmed.Governorship
In 1991 Bell run for governor of the Atlántico Department as an independent candidate, he became the first elected governor by popular vote of this department for the period between 1992 and 1994.Vice presidency (1998–2002)
After spending three years studying in the United Kingdom, Bell returned to Colombia in 1997 and joined the presidential campaign of Andrés Pastrana. Pastrana offered him the vice presidency of Colombia, and they were elected for the 1998–2002 presidential period.Vice President Bell was in charge of the Colombian Office for Human Rights issues between 1998 and 2001, year in which President Pastrana also appointed him the Ministry of National Defence.