Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia (born 1 January 1967) is a Colombian diplomat, mining engineer, and politician who was the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development from 2016 to 2018.

Murillo’s ascent to become an influential Afro-Colombian political figure allowed him to be awarded Colombia’s ICETEX Scholarship to study abroad.

[2] In 1993, at the age of 27, Murillo was promoted by Colombian President César Gaviria to the Office of Director General of the Corporation for Sustainable Development of the State of Chocó (CODECHOCO), under the National Department of Planning.

These reforms also incorporated the defense of land rights of rural Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities that populate Choco’s River Valley Region.

During Murillo’s tenure, Colombian government formalized the biggest collective land title to Afro-Colombians rural communities, under the umbrella of the Asociacion Campesina del Bajo Atrato (ACIA).

[citation needed] In January 1999, Murillo was stripped of his office by a controversial court ruling, which has been described in editorials of Colombia’s newspaper El Espectador as unjust.

Murillo worked to make the voices of marginalized global citizens, especially Colombians, heard in the foreign policy debate in Washington, D.C. and the international community.

His work was part of LWR’s efforts to resolve conflict and to build peace around the world through local projects backed by education and advocacy in the United States.

Articles written by or about Murillo have appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, New Amsterdam, Chicago Tribune, and The Crisis, among others.

After several years working in Washington, Murillo returned to Colombia in 2011 when he won for second time the election for governor of Choco, his native state.

[5] Finally, in 2013 the office of the Colombian general Inspector, Alejandro Ordoñez Maldonado, freed Luis Murillo from any disciplinary sanction.

After winning, President Santos appointed Mr. Murillo as Director of the Pacific Initiative, the special presidential program directed to boost the social and economic development of that region of Colombia.

During his time as Minister, Murillo led the creation of a system of payment for environmental services to rural communities, to provide incentives for the protection of the rainforest, wetlands and paramo ecosystems (high mountain moorlands).

[8] Following his unsuccessful vice presidential bid, Murillo endorsed the Historic Pact for Colombia nominee Gustavo Petro for the second round.