Twice president of Colombia, director-general of the Pan American Union, and secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Alberto Lleras Camargo (1906-1990) was a journalist and a statesman. He spent most of his life in search of peaceful solutions to the problems of Latin America and his native land.

Alberto Lleras Camargo was born to a prominent family in Bogotá, Colombia, on July 3, 1906. When Lleras was 11, his father died, leaving the family penniless. With an older brother's help, he was able to complete high school at a military academy. Lleras entered the School of Law and Political Science of the National Unviversity in Bogotá, but left before receiving a degree.

Journalist Training

After some newspaper reporting work in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lleras returned home in 1930 to become editor of Bogotá's leading liberal newspaper, El Tiempo. His wit and terse writing style soon made...