Belisario Betancur

Most important awards, prizes and academies
Acting Senator of the Republic (1958); Minister of Labour (1962); Ambassador to Spain (1975); President of the Republic of Colombia 1982-1986; President of the Commission for Truth in the El Salvador Peace Process (Central America); President of the IDEA Mission (Sweden) to foster the peace process in Guatemala; Sponsored the Contadora Group for Peace in Central America; Established distance education in Colombia; President of the Santillana Foundation for Iberoamerica; Vice President of the Club of Rome for Latin America; President of the Institute of Social Studies John Paul II in Bogotá; Member of the Colombian Academy of the Spanish Language; Member of the Colombian Academy of Jurisprudence; Member of the South American Peace Commission; Member of the Circle of Montevideo, headed by the President of Uruguay, Julio María Sanguinetti; "Cruz Isabel la Católica y la Orden de Carlos III" (Spain); "Legion d'honneur" (France); "Orden del Sol" (Peru); "Gran Aguila Azteca" (Mexico); Awarded "Principe de Asturias" Prize in 1983; Implemented Colombian association and affiliation with the Movement of Non Aligned Nations; President of numerous foundations: Children's Museum (Museo de los Niños), Institute John Paul II (Instituto Juan Pablo II), Rafael Pombo Foundation (Fundación Rafael Pombo), Modern Art Museum (Museo de Arte Moderno); Member of the Club (de Expresidentes) of Madrid; Prize Cristóbal Gabarrón de Valladolid, Una Trayectoria Humana.

Summary of scientific research
The main subject of my research is violence and armed subversion in Latin America. The causes of conflict are subjective "guerrillas" or personal factors and objective dependence, absence of social infrastructure, under-development in general. A solution to the conflict, from my point of view, could be reached if those who raise their weapons against each other embraced simultaneous answers to both the subjective and objective factors.