Humberto de la Calle

He also served as Ambassador to Spain and the United Kingdom. After 2003, De La Calle worked at his own Law firm which specialises in advising and representing international clients in Colombia. In October 2012 he was appointed by President Juan Manuel Santos as the chief negotiator in the peace process with the FARC.

• Name — Humberto de la Calle • Order1 — 5th • Office1 — Vice President of Colombia • Term Start1 — 7 August 1994 • Term End1 — 10 September 1996 • President1 — Ernesto Samper • Predecessor1 — Ramón González Valencia • Successor1 — Carlos Lemos Simmonds • Office2 — Presidential Designate • Term Start2 — 5 August 1992 • Term End2 — 11 August 1993 • President2 — César Gaviria • Predecessor2 — Luis Fernando Jaramillo • Successor2 — Juan Manuel Santos • Office3 — Senator of Colombia • Term Start3 — 20 July 2022 • Term End3 — 1 February 2025 • Office4 — Head of the Negotiating Team of the Colombian Government with the FARC-EP • Term Start4 — 1 October 2012 • Term End4 — 30 November 2016 • President4 — Juan Manuel Santos • Predecessor4 — Office established • Successor4 — Juan Camilo Restrepo • Office5 — Minister of Interior and Justice • Term Start5 — 1 January 2000 • Term End5 — 23 February 2001 • President5 — Andrés Pastrana • Predecessor5 — Néstor Humberto Martínez • Successor5 — Armando Estrada • Term Start6 — 11 January 1991 • Term End6 — 10 January 1993 • President6 — César Gaviria • Predecessor6 — Julio César Sánchez • Successor6 — Fabio Villegas • Office7 — Permanent Representative of Colombia to the Organization of American States • Term Start7 — 15 March 2001 • Term End7 — 10 March 2003 • President7 — * Andrés Pastrana (2001–2002) • Álvaro Uribe (2002–2003) • Predecessor7 — Luis Alfredo Botero • Successor7 — Horacio Serpa • Office8 — Colombian Ambassador to the United Kingdom • Term Start8 — 15 November 1998 • Term End8 — 15 October 2000 • President8 — Andrés Pastrana • Predecessor8 — Carlos Lemos Simmonds • Successor8 — Victor Ricardo • Office9 — Colombian Ambassador to Spain • Term Start9 — 6 October 1995 • Term End9 — 17 July 1996 • President9 — Ernesto Samper • Predecessor9 — María Emma Mejía • Successor9 — Rodrigo Marín Bernal • Office10 — Member of the Constituent Assembly of Colombia • Term Start10 — 2 February 1991 • Term End10 — 4 July 1991 • Constituency10 — Liberal Party • Office11 — Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Colombia • Term Start11 — 1 January 1982 • Term End11 — 31 December 1986 • Nominator11 — Belisario Betancur • Birth Name — Humberto de la Calle Lombana • Born — 14 July 1946 • Birthplace — Manzanares, Caldas, Colombia • Party — Liberal (1990-present) • Education — University of Caldas (LLB)

During his high school years, De La Calle was a known activist of Nadaism and an admirer of Colombian poet Gonzalo Arango. He studied at the University of Caldas where he earned a law degree and met his future wife and mother of his three children. De La Calle then went on to study International Law at the Inter-American Judicial Committee in 1979. De la Calle is an atheist.

De la Calle became a professor while practicing his law profession under private law firms. He started teaching in 1978 and became Dean in the universities of Caldas and Manizales until 1980. He also taught in prestigious universities from Bogotá, such as Andes University and Our Lady of the Rosary University. For almost a decade De la Calle served in the Judicial Branch; he was appointed National Civil Registrar in the late 1980s during the administration of President Belisario Betancur. In 1986 De la Calle also served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.

In 1990 he was appointed to the Ministry of Government during the administration of President César Gaviria until 1992. In 1993 followers of President Gaviria from the Liberal Party suggested De la Calle as a possible presidential candidate. De la Calle resigned as minister to pursue the presidency, but in the party primaries he was defeated by Ernesto Samper. Samper then invited De la Calle to be his vice president. In the 1994 Presidential election, Samper and De La Calle were elected. In the May primary election and the June general election of 1994, Samper and De la Calle were elected. De la Calle's relationship with President Samper was not strong and he was appointed as Ambassador to Spain while still serving as vice president. In 1996 with the outbreak of the 8000 Process scandal in which the Samper presidential campaign received millions of dollars from the Cali Cartel, De la Calle's relationship with the government deteriorated to the point that De la Calle asked for the resignation of President Samper. After President Samper decided not to resign, and the government continued to lose credibility, De La Calle finally resigned as vice President in 1997. De la Calle then allied with Andrés Pastrana, a conservative and political foe of President Samper. In the 1998 elections Pastrana was elected president and appointed De la Calle Ambassador to the United Kingdom, a position in which he served from 1998 to 2000. He was then appointed as Minister of the Interior, where he served between the years 2000 and 2001. From 2001 to 2003 De la Calle served as Colombia's Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS). Afterwards he worked in his own law firm with his associates Ignacio Londoño Rivera, José Miguel de la Calle Restrepo and Mario Posada García-Peña. The firm offers services on legal advice and legal representation in different legal areas for Colombian nationals and international clients. He is also a regular columnist in the Bogotá daily El Espectador.