Colombia at the Crossroads: A New Beginning after Decades of Conflict?

Alfonso Cuellar, Editor-in-chief of Semana magazine (Bogotá), Knight Fellow at Stanford Colombia will hold the first round of its presidential elections on May 30. Who ever is elected will receive a country greatly changed by the eight years of Alvaro Uribe's controversial, but immensely popular mandate. At the 200th anniversary of the declaration of independence, there are signs that Colombia may be finally turning the page of decades of political violence and internal strife. Opinion polls show that the conflict has receded so much in the minds of Colombians that an independent candidate could defeat Uribe's hand-picked succesor, the minister of Defense credited with major military successes against the FARC guerrillas. Is this new Colombia on the horizon or rather just a brief calm before new levels of violence rack the country? Cuellar was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. He graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, with a bachelor's degree and also attended the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. He began his career in journalism in 1987 on the foreign desk for El Tiempo, Colombia's largest newspaper. From 1989 to 1992, he headed the paper's international coverage during the end of the Cold War. From 1992 to 1996, he worked for the Colombian government, first as an advisor on international affairs in the Colombian president's office, then for the Colombian Embassy in Washington, DC and finally, for the United Nations Development Program in Cartagena, Colombia. He returned to journalism in 1996 as a reporter with Semana Magazine, the country's leading magazine. From 1997 to 2005, he worked for BP Exploration of Colombia, a global energy company. In 2005, he returned to journalism as editor of Semana, Colombia's leading newsweekly, which is known for its investigative work and political writing. You are invited to bring your own "brown bag" lunch. In keeping with the Bolivar House cafecito tradition, hot coffee is provided beginning at 11:45 am. Lecture/q&a runs from 12:15-1:05 pm.