Rodrigo Pardo García-Peña
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Rodrigo Pardo García-Peña (15 November 1958 – 19 February 2024) was a Colombian journalist, academic and diplomat. He was deputy director of '' ''El Tiempo'''', director of ''
El Espectador ''El Espectador'' () is a nationally circulated Colombian newspaper founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez in 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each, but some years later became ...
'', of the defunct magazine ''Cambio''.LASILLAVACIA.COM
Perfil: Rodrigo Pardo
(17 January 2012). Consultado 20 de febrero 2014.
He was
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
and ambassador of Colombia to Venezuela and France. He was the grandson of , cousin of and
Daniel García-Peña Daniel García-Peña Jaramillo (born 1957) is a Colombian university professor, historian, journalist, politician, and diplomat who served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Colombia), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs between April and July 2024 a ...
.


Biography

Rodrigo Pardo attended high school at the Gimnasio Moderno, then studied economics at the University of the Andes and completed an MA in International Relations at
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
, SAIS, in Washington. He worked as a professor of Political Science at the University of the Andes, in the fields of international relations and Colombian foreign policy.


Political career

In the first years of his professional career he was presidential advisor to President
Virgilio Barco Virgilio Barco Vargas (17 September 1921 – 20 May 1997) was a Colombian politician and civil engineer who served as the 27th President of Colombia serving from 7 August 1986 to 7 August 1990. Early life Barco was born in Cúcuta in the Nor ...
on international affairs. During the 1990 Colombian presidential elections he worked on the campaign of
César Gaviria César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National D ...
, who after winning, appointed him vice-minister of Foreign Affairs. Two years later he was appointed ambassador to Venezuela, a position he arrived at in the midst of the crisis days after the first attempted coup against former president
Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...
. In 1994,
Ernesto Samper Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. From 2014 to 2017 he served as the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). He is a lawyer, economist, academic and pol ...
appointed him chancellor, and there he had to manage the country's difficult foreign relations in the midst of the ''
Proceso 8000 The Process 8000 () is the unofficial name given to the corruption scandal surrounding accusations that Colombian Liberal Party candidate Ernesto Samper's 1994 campaign for President of Colombia was partially funded by drug money. The name came f ...
''. In 1997 Samper appointed him ambassador to France.


Journalistic career

In 1998 he was named Director of ''El Espectador'' after the
Santo Domingo Group The Santo Domingo family is one of the wealthiest Colombian families whose collective fortune makes them among the richest families in the Americas. Founded by Julio Mario Santo Domingo and headed by his son Alejandro, the family manages a co ...
bought the publication. Pardo was not new to the journalistic world, since he had previously worked as an economic journalist in ''
Semana ''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in Colombia. History ''Semana'' was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo (who would become president of Colombia in 1958) and that folded in 1961. It was relaunched by journalist in ...
'' and in ''
Cromos ''Cromos'' is a Colombian variety and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called ''Mini Cromos''. The magazine was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both fro ...
''. He worked at ''El Espectador'' for two years and from there he became general editor of ''El Tiempo'', a newspaper at which later, in 2002, he was named deputy director. In 2004 he received the for the best opinion column. He was also editorial advisor for ''Semana'' magazine and in 2007 he became director of ''Cambio'' magazine, a publication that ''El Tiempo'' had acquired a year earlier. During his time at the magazine, Pardo and his journalistic team uncovered major scandals of the
Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...
government and several of the most important news stories of the year such as , the relations of the brother of the former interior minister Fabio Valencia Cossio with the
Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel () was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia, that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered to be the first major ...
and the secret negotiations over the United States military bases in Colombia. In 2012 he was appointed as the director of ''Noticias RCN'' of
RCN Televisión RCN Televisión, branded as Canal RCN (''Radio Cadena Nacional'') is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Organización Ardila Lülle. It was founded as a television production company on March 23, 1967, and officially launched a ...
, replacing Clara Elvira Ospina. He resigned from that position in March 2015 to return to ''Semana'' in the role of editorial director. He also worked on radio, on the desk of the Voces ("Voices") RCN program and as an analyst on RCN Noticias de la muerte ("Death Notices"). Between 2012 and 2015 he directed and presented the television program "Dos Puntos con Rodrigo Pardo". In May 2015, this program received the Álvaro Gómez journalism award, for a debate on
bullfighting Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
.


Personal life and death

His son Daniel Pardo is
BBC Mundo BBC Mundo (Spanish for ''BBC World''), previously known as the BBC Latin American Service, is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 40 languages it provides. History The first BBC broadcast in Spanish took place o ...
's South America correspondent. Rodrigo Pardo García-Peña died in February 2024, at the age of 65.


References


External links


Biografía de Rodrigo Pardo García-Peña

Ficha en El Colombiano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pardo Garcia-Pena, Rodrigo 1958 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Bogotá Colombian journalists Ministers of foreign affairs of Colombia Grand Crosses of the Order of the Sun of Peru Ambassadors of Colombia to Venezuela Ambassadors of Colombia to France Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni