Sabas Pretelt de la Vega (born April 11, 1946) is a Colombian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and businessman, who served as Colombian Minister of the Interior and Justice, and Ambassador to the Colombian missions in

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Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

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, and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in April 2015 for corruption after the Yidispolítica scandal where Yidis Medina supposedly took a bribe from Pretelt. He was released in April 2018 under good behavior, in which he set up an education system for the soldiers in the naval base he was detained in.

Personal life

Sabas Pretelt de la Vega was born in

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...

in the

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Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

on April 11, 1946. He had three children with his ex-wife Pilar Arango Gomez: María Vanessa, Verónica, and Mauricio. Pretelt married fellow Colombian economist Ana Luisa de Zubiría on September 11, 2006 in a private ceremony at the home of his sister, Mercé Pretelt de la Vega. The

godparents Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child's baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, ...

were President of Fedegán, José Félix Lafaurie, and the

Attorney General of Colombia The Attorney General of Colombia (Attorney General of the Nation) is the head of the Attorney General's Office of the Nation of Colombia and the principal law enforcement official. The attorney general acts as the main head of criminal prosecuti ...

, Mario Germán Iguarán Arana. The nuptials were hastened due to Pretelt's diplomatic appointment in Italy and left that same day to Rome. He graduated from the Liceo de Cervantes, he also graduated from the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia) as humanist and from the Universidad del Valle as an economist. He has a master's degree in Business Administration and has been a professor at several Colombian universities. Sabas Pretelt de la Vega was the Colombian minister of the Interior and Justice between November 2003 and September 2006. Pretelt de la Vega was a member of President

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 ...

's cabinet as Minister of Interior and Justice, being the first non-lawyer to occupy that position. He is credited for bringing significant legislative achievements to effectively improve the fight against drug trafficking and the country's stability. During this tenure as Minister, he served several times as Minister in charge of the presidential office. His successor is

Carlos Holguín Sardi Carlos Holguín Sardi (born 16 December 1940) was the List of Governors of the Department of Valle del Cauca, 64th and 54th Governor of Valle del Cauca. A Colombian Conservative Party, Conservative party politician, he served as the 3rd Minister ...

, since 2006. Prior to being a member of

's cabinet, Sabas Pretelt was between 1988 and 2003 the president of FENALCO, the Colombian National Association of Commerce. Pretelt had a successful career in the private sector, both as entrepreneur and President of the National Council of Entrepreneurs, a coordinating body of all the private sector organizations in Colombia. In that quality, he also represented several times Colombia's employers in the Assembly of the International Labour Organisation and in other regional organizations such as ALAS, the Latin American Association of Supermarkets and the

Food Marketing Institute FMI, The Food Industry Association, is a national trade association for the food industry, especially food retailers and wholesalers, in the USA. FMI's members include approximately 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing an ...

of the United States, among others. In the academic field, Pretelt was a professor of Greek culture and pre-Socratic philosophy in the

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private university, private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Bapt ...

, and of Projects Evaluation in the

University of Valle The University of Valle (), also called Univalle, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based primarily in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It is the largest higher education institution by student populatio ...

. He has published numerous articles in newspapers and magazines and is the author of the books “San Andres: Centro Financiero Internacional” and “Privatizaciones, Apertura, y Desarrollo.” Due his involvement in the corruption scandal known as Yidispolítica he was banned from holding any public office for twelve years and was sentenced to six years in prison where he stayed in a naval base in Cartagena. He was released after three years for good behavior after setting up education services for the uneducated in the naval base. His

letter of resignation Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

was finally accepted by President

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by training and a journalist by trade, S ...

on the eve of the nomination of his successor as ambassador.

References

External links

FENALCO

Embajada de Colombia en Italia
*
Colombian Government Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pretelt De La Vega, Sabas 1946 births Living people People from Cartagena, Colombia Ambassadors of Colombia to Italy Colombian economists Ministers of the interior and justice of Colombia University of Valle people Colombian Conservative Party politicians Ambassadors of Colombia to Greece Ambassadors of Colombia to Malta Ambassadors of Colombia to San Marino Ambassadors of Colombia to Cyprus