His Life

Jesus Antonio Bejarano was professor of economics at the Universiad Nacional in Bogota, Colombia. Apart from his academic activities, professor Bejarano had been strongly involved in different projects that sought the end of the war in Colombia. During the government of President Virgilio Barco, professor Bejarano played an important role in the development of the National Plan of Rehabilitation, a foundational strategy for peacemaking in the country. During the early 1990s, professor Bejarano, one of President Gaviria's peace consultants, was a key player in the peace negotiations with the Coordinadora Guerrillera Simón Bolívar, the then guerrilla coalition of the FARC, EPL, and ELN.

Professor Bejarano was one of a select group of Colombian scholars dedicated to re-writing the history of his country. Bejarano wrote several books where he revisits Colombian historical phenomena, looking for new interpretations that could shed light on the complexity of Colombia's contemporary conflict.

His Death

On September 16, 1999 while professor Bejarano was walking on campus to meet his next class, two men on a motorcycle drove by and shot him to death. Immediately he was surrounded by his students who tried to assist him.