19 Facts About Claudia Blum

Claudia Blum de Barberi is a Colombian psychologist and politician who served as foreign minister.

Claudia Blum served as the 26th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations.

Claudia Blum first went to school in Cali to the prestigious bilingual school Colegio Colombo Britanico until her family moved to Boston, United States, where she finished her high school education.

Claudia Blum returned to Colombia to study Psychology at the University of Valle and moved on to obtain her Masters in Political Studies from the Pontifical Xavierian University.

Claudia Blum has carried out advanced studies in negotiation and conflict resolution at the Harvard Law School.

Claudia Blum grew up in a Conservative leaning household but she briefly flirted with the Left as she became interested in politics and was influenced by the Liberal politician Luis Carlos Galan.

In 1982 her father, Harold Blum Mejia, was killed by the rebel forces FARC-EP which prompted most of her family to leave the country, she however chose to stay and continue her political aspirations.

Claudia Blum worked in Cali as a journalist for the newspaper El Pueblo, she directed various cultural magazines and worked as a psychologist for the INEM Jorge Isaacs school.

Claudia Blum was director of the art foundation Proartes, between 1984 and 1989, from where she revived and organized the International Art Festival of Cali and promoted public investment for the foundation.

Claudia Blum began her political career as a councilor for the Municipality of Cali and in her two terms, the first one from 1984 to 1986 and the second one from 1990 to 1991, she developed her record for working for public spaces, culture, and the environment.

Claudia Blum was first elected Senator of Colombia for the New Democratic Force after the ratification of the Colombian Constitution of 1991.

Claudia Blum became Vice President of the Fifth Commission of Congress in 1982, where she worked on creating the Ministry of the Environment and reorganized the work of State entities on the issue, as well as laws on energy, agriculture, and public services.

Claudia Blum was Vice President of the Commission of Legal Ethics, member of the Senate Commission for Peace, and starting in 1994, was a member of the First Commission, body which she presided over from mid-1999 to mid-2000.

Claudia Blum organized political debates on the state of education in the country, on actions to improve the attention given to victims of forced displacement due to violence, and on assessments to strengthen the electoral system in Colombia.

Claudia Blum's Senate career reached its apex in 2005 when she became the first female President of the Senate of the Republic of Colombia, by now she was a member of the Radical Change, a centre-right party which had supported President Uribe.

Claudia Blum pushed forward the launching of a Congressional television station, as well as initiatives for the better use of technology in the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, projects for the modernization of the Congressional Library, and actions towards guaranteeing the safety and security of the Legislative branch.

In 2006, Claudia Blum left the Senate at the request of President Alvaro Uribe to head the Delegation of Colombia to the United Nations in New York City.

Claudia Blum was sworn in as Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations on 28 August 2006, by President Uribe and presented her Letter of Credence to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 11 September 2006.

Claudia Blum has published books on Colombian Government and her career as a legislator.