María del Rosario Guerra de La Espriella


María del Rosario Guerra de La Espriella is a Colombian economist, professor and politician who has served as Senator since 2014. She was elected under a newly created political party, the Democratic Center, which is led by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Guerra was the Minister of Communications under President Uribe from July 2006 until January 2010. In March 2017, Guerra announced her candidacy for President of Colombia.

Career

Guerra is an economist from Del Rosario University. She also received a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Masters in Agricultural Economy from Cornell University. She is a professor at Del Rosario University, University of the Andes and the National University of Colombia. Guerra had previously held roles as Vice Chancellor of Del Rosario University and also served as Director of the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation - Colciencias. During this period, Guerra surprised the scientific community by stating that it is possible to train Africanized bees to attack human beings. Arguments that go against the opinions of renowned biologists who are experts in the behavior of bees.
She was appointed Minister of Communications during the second term of President Alvaro Uribe. One of her main contributions was to implement the Law of Technologies of Information and Communication, TIC,, Law on the Services Postcards and led programs to expand internet access to marginalised regions of Colombia by expanding the Digital Citizen initiative. Her sister, Albertina del Carmen Guerra de la Espriella, is currently part of the Ministry of National Defence. Albertina was married to David Char Navas, former congressman and appearing in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace for parapolitics.

Political career

In March 2014, she was elected Senator of the Republic for the period 2014–2018 under the Democratic Center, a political movement created and led by Uribe. Guerra became the de facto deputy leader of the Democratic Center in the Senate behind Uribe, who was also elected Senator. In March 2017, Guerra launched a bid for her party's nomination for the 2018 presidential election, but withdrew her name in November.