Bachelor’s Degree in History from the Universidad del Valle, Master of History from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ph.D. in Sociology from the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris. He is the author of more than thirty books and multiple essays and articles on socioeconomic conflicts, as well as the contemporary political history of Colombia and Latin America. Among his notable works are El poder y la sangre. Las historias de Trujillo, Valle (1995), Construcción del Ejército nacional en Colombia, 1907-1930. Reforma militar y misiones extranjeras (2009), Partidos, Violencia y Ejército (2010) and La increíble y triste historia de la Cándida Leticia y sus abuelos desarmados. El conflicto colombo-peruano por Leticia (2020). Some of his texts have been translated into English and French, and published abroad. Moreover, he has been a columnist for El Tiempo (1994-1995), Razón Pública (2011-2017), and El Espectador (2016-2018). He served as the president of the National Planning Council (2009-2010) and the Colombian Association of Universities (Ascún) (2017). Also, he was president of the National Pedagogical University (2014-2018), where he remains a full professor in the Department of Social Sciences. Currently, he is the director of the National Pedagogical Institute.