Who is the Mayor of Bogota, Carlos Fernando Galan?

Carlos Fernando Galan Pachón was born in Bogota on June 4, 1977. He is the husband of Carolina; father of Julieta, 10 years old, and Juan Pablo, 4 years old; and son of Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento and Gloria Pachón de Galan. 

Studies

He studied Foreign Service with an emphasis on International Economics at Georgetown University, continued his training at the Externado University of Colombia, where he specialized in Government, Management and Public Affairs. In addition, he pursued postgraduate studies in International Affairs at Columbia University and completed a Master's in Public Administration at New York University.

Career trajectory in media

His professional life began in the field of journalism. He was a correspondent for Semana magazine in Washington, editor and writer for Cambio magazine and a journalist at El Tiempo. His journalistic work was recognized in 2007 with the National Journalism Award from the Circle of Journalists of Bogotá for his investigations into parapolitics (political ties with paramilitary).

Political career 

His first term was on the Bogotá City Council between 2008-2011. During this time, he reported irregularities in public contracting of the Mayor's Office of Samuel Moreno, which uncovered the so-called Contract Carousel. He was rated twice as the best Councilman of Bogotá by the “Concejo Cómo Vamos” Project and recognized as the Most Outstanding Councilman of 2011.

• In 2011 he ran for the first time for the Mayor's Office of Bogotá and obtained 13% of the vote cast.
• He was appointed as Secretary of Transparency of the Presidency of the Republic between 2012 and 2013; he led the implementation of the anti-corruption and transparency policy in Colombia.
• In 2014, he was elected as a Senator of Colombia. He led from the Legislative debates on land use, territorial planning and the implications of climate change on land occupation. As director of Cambio Radical he revoked more than 300 endorsements to questioned candidates in the country. He resigned from the party in 2018.
• In 2019 he ran again for the Mayor's Office of Bogotá and 1,022,874 citizens backed his candidacy. 
• In 2023 he ran again for the Mayor's Office, for the Nuevo Liberalismo political party and was victorious with 1,499,734 votes, the highest vote cast in the history of Bogotá