Fernando Carrillo Flórez

Academic career

Carrillo attended the Cervantes Lyceum from where he graduated in 1978, he then went on to College at the Pontifical Xavierian University from where graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Economics and a Juris Doctor; his thesis, Sector Financiero y Delincuencia Económica (Financial Sector and Economic Delinquency), co-authored with Jorge Pinzon Sanchez, was published by Editorial Temis Librería. Carrillo pursued further studies in the United States attending Harvard Law School where he earned a Master of Laws in 1987, and returned in the 90's earning a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1994.

Right out off college Carrillo began teaching at his alma mater as Professor of Constitutional Law; he also been Professor of Public Finance at Our Lady of the Rosary University, and the University of La Sabana; Professor of Commercial Law at the University of the Andes, Saint Thomas Aquinas University, and ICESI University; and visiting scholar at various other institutions including Sciences Po, University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, American University, and the Charles III University of Madrid.

On 13 September 2012 Carrillo was named Corresponding Member of the Colombian Academy of Jurisprudence.

Constituent Assembly

On 7 August 1990, the newly inaugurated President of Colombia, César Gaviria Trujillo, appointed Carrillo as Presidential Adviser on Constituent Assembly Matters. Because of constitutional restrictions on sitting officials, Carrillo resigned his post to run for a seat in the Constituent Assembly, feat that he managed when the elections were held in December. On 5 February 1991 the National Constituent Assembly was convened with Carrillo as a member.

Ministry of Justice

On 6 August 1991 President Gaviria appointed Carrillo as Minister of Justice. Carrillo, who at the time was serving as Assemblyman and Chairman of the Justice Committee of the Constituent Assembly, was replaced as Chairperson by Assemblywoman Martha Lucía Pinzón Galán.

Inter-American Development Bank

After Carrillo resigned as Minister of Justice, he travelled to the United States to study at Harvard, this would mark the beginning of a 20-year hiatus from public service choosing to remain in the private sector in international circles, an absence that was felt among certain political sectors that wished his returns to the political scene. In 1994, he joined the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He was the Chief Advisor to the State, Governance and Civil Society Division at the IDB headquarters in Washington, D.C. between 1994 and 2003; IDB's representative and spokesperson at the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States between 1996 and 2003; and Alternate Representative of the Inter-American Development Bank in Paris between 2003 and 2010.

National Legal Defence Agency

On 24 January 2012 during the inauguration of Beatriz Londoño Soto as Minister of Health and Social Protection, President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón announced the designation of Carrillo as Director of the National Legal Defence Agency, a newly created executive agency ascribed to the Ministry of Justice and Law, and charged with coordinating, organizing, and structuring the country's legal defence, and whenever possible, avoid damages to the State's assets. Carrillo, who at the time was working as Head Representative of the IDB in Brazil, had worked for Santos in his presidential campaign as Head of the Presidential Transition Committee after the election. On 15 March, President Santos sworn in Carrillo as the National Legal Defence Agency's 1st Director in a ceremony at the Palace of Nariño.

Ministry of the Interior

On 31 August 2012, President Santos announced a reshuffle of his Cabinet, and as part of this changes Carrillo was named Minister of the Interior replacing Federico Renjifo Vélez who in turn had been moved to be Minister of Mines and Energy.; Carrillo and five other new ministers were sworn in three days later on 3 September at a ceremony in the Palace of Nariño.

Ambassadorship

The day after his resignation, President Santos announced the designation of Carrillo to succeed Orlando Sardi de Lima as Ambassador of Colombia to Spain.

Personal life

Fernando was born on 13 May 1963 in Bogotá, Colombia to Rafael Carrillo Piñeros and Adelia Flórez. He is married to Diana Cristina Serpa Preciado with whom he has two daughters, Laura and Natalia.

Selected works