Noemí Sanín

Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada (born 6 June 1949) is a Colombian-born politician and diplomat.

[1][2] In 1998 Sanín moved to the United States and established herself in Boston, where she attended Harvard University as a Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Fellow.

[3] In 1976 Sanín was appointed as Vice President of Operations and Credit in the Corporación de Ahorro y Vivienda, (Colmena) (Savings and Housing Corporation) until 1979.

[1][2] Her most notable achievements as President of Colmena was to have financed a large portion of the low-income sector of Colombia and expanded the national network of branches from 36 to 63 until the end of her terms in 1983.

[1] Among her achievements as minister of Communications Sanín helped to develop Law 42 of 1985 which modernized Television in Colombia and legalized and organized the regional TV networks.

On November 6, 1985 an urban commando of the 19th of April Movement guerrilla group stormed the Palace of Justice building to demand a public prosecution of then president of Colombia, Belisario Betancur.

Acting as minister of Communications Sanín decided not to allow the retake to be broadcast live on television or radio, instead it continued with the usual programming.

[4] Due to this decision she has been accused by the Colombian Truth Commission of censoring information as a way to keep in the dark the excesses undertaken by the military, which have been well known for decades and are now legally surfacing.

Running on an anti-unemployment campaign, Sanín in fact won the most votes in the cities of Bogotá and Medellín, but fared poorly in the countryside.

She also promoted numerous cultural exchanges and advocated on behalf of temporary work and technical and education training for Colombians in Spain.

According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, Sanín's ambassadorship in the United Kingdom would be temporary, as she entertained presidential aspirations.