Ana Paola Agudelo García (born 5 May 1983) is a Colombian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

member of the MIRA Party. She was elected to the

Congress of Colombia The Congress of the Republic of Colombia () is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature. The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Representatives, Members of both houses are e ...

as Representative of the Colombian

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

s for the 2014–2018 term with 4663 votes. In 2018 she was elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

with over 70,000 votes.

Political career

Ana Paola Agudelo has been a member of the MIRA party during her entire political career. As Representative for the Colombian Expatriates she was member of the Congressional Constitutional Second Commission (also known as the International Affairs Commission) and member of the Legal Commission on Human Rights and Audiences. She was temporarily replaced by Jorge Muñoz by the end of 2015 due to maternity leave. During her campaign to Senate she was the first candidate of the

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

of her party, being the only female candidate holding the first position of a list of candidates among all the political parties running for Senate. As Senator she is a member of the Congressional Constitutional Second Commission. Much of her work as Congresswoman has been towards improving the quality of life of the Colombian expatriates. Therefore, she has promoted better access conditions to the National Savings Fund for Colombian expatriates and she included a proposition so that the expatriates could obtain the military passbook without being present in Colombia. Moreover, she has worked towards the creation of migration policies and she has pushed for the signing of a repatriation of prisoners treaty with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In 2015 Ana Paola Agudelo cited the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Justice, María Ángela Holguín and Yesid Reyes, respectively, before the Congress to a debate regarding the application of the

repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

treaties. This event was pivotal in the first repatriation of a Colombian prisoner, Harold Carrillo Sánchez, from

, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Personal life

Ana Paola Agudelo was born in

Ibagué Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the New Kingdom of Granada, Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima Department, Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city ...

. She graduated in Foreign Languages and International Business at the University of Tolima in Colombia. She did a Master in Social Economy at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

in Spain. In 2016 she obtained a specialization in Public Management and Fiscal Control at

Del Rosario University The Universidad del Rosario, officially Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, is a Colombian private university founded on Roman Catholic principles, by Friar, Fray Cristobal de Torres in 1653. Located in Bogotá, due to its important pla ...

in Colombia. Currently she is doing a PhD in Social Economy and non-profit organizations at University of Valencia.

Awards

She was outstanding graduate in the category of Public Management from University of Tolima. The University of Valencia awarded her an acknowledgment due to her professional commitment. She received the Order of Military Merit ''Antonio Nariño'' in the grade ''Grand Officer'' from the

National Army of Colombia The National Army of Colombia () is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, and is the second largest army in the ...

. She received the ''Simona Duque de Alzate'' Medal from the National Army of Colombia due to her contributions to the Law 1861 of 2017, which reformed the rules of enlisting and the processing of the military passbook. She is a member of the Special class of professionals of the

Colombian Air Force The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...

Reserve.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agudelo Garcia, Ana Paola 1983 births Colombian emigrants to Spain Colombian expatriates in Spain Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation politicians Living people Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Ministerialists People from Ibagué 21st-century Colombian women politicians 21st-century Colombian politicians 21st-century Colombian economists