About Ernesto Samper
Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) is a Colombian politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. From 2014 to 2017 he served as the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). He is also a lawyer, economist and academic. He was involved in the 8000 process scandal, which takes its name from the folio number assigned to it by the chief prosecutor's office. The prosecutor charged that money from the Cali Cartel was funneled into Samper's presidential campaign to gain his success in what would have been a very close race after he failed to win by a majority during the first round (Colombia has 2 rounds of elections, unless the first round yields a majority winner). The Colombian Chamber of Representatives acquitted Samper by a vote of 111 to 43, concluding the process. Ernesto Samper won the first electoral round—where about 1/2 of 17 million voters cast ballots—with 45.2% of the vote. The results of the first round caused the Samper campaign team to secure additional funding to help widen the margin over the opposing candidate.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.