VIRGILIO BARCO

Virgilio Barco Vargas was president of Colombia from 1986 to 1990. During his presidency, there was a strong clash between the government and the country´s main drugs cartels. President Barco paved the way for the Constitutional reform of 1991, carried out a successful peace policy which culminated in the reintegration of the M-19 guerrilla group into the country´s civil life, focused State investment on reducing poverty, established an ambitious policy for protecting the cultural and biological diversity of the Amazon, and began the process for opening up the economy continued by his successor, César Gaviria.