Ernesto Samper

Ernesto Samper Pizano (born August 3, 1950 in Bogotá) is a Colombian politician. He served as the President of Colombia from August 7, 1994 to August 7, 1998, representing the Liberal Party. He was involved in the so called 8000 process scandal, which takes its name from the folio number assigned to it by the chief prosecutor's office, which claims that money from the Cali Cartel was funeled into his presidential campaign in order to guarantee hi... more

Ernesto Samper Pizano (born August 3, 1950 in Bogotá) is a Colombian politician. He served as the President of Colombia from August 7, 1994 to August 7, 1998, representing the Liberal Party. He was involved in the so called 8000 process scandal, which takes its name from the folio number assigned to it by the chief prosecutor's office, which claims that money from the Cali Cartel was funeled into his presidential campaign in order to guarantee his success in what would have been a very close race to the finish after failing to win by a majority during the first round (Colombia has 2 rounds of elections, unless the first round yields a winner taking more than 50-percent the votes). Samper studied in the Gimnasio Moderno school and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Additionally, he conducted graduate studies in Economics at Columbia University while living in New York City. In 1993, when the campaign for the presidency was in its early stages, it became increasingly clear that the... less