Gabriel Betancourt MejÃÂa (April 27, 1918, in MedellÃÂn â March 23, 2002, in Bogotá) was a Colombian economist and diplomat who served as Colombia's Minister of National Education in two occasions, and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.
Gabriel Betancourt was born in MedellÃÂn on April 27, 1918, to Pedro Nolasco Adriano Betancur Toro and Mariana MejÃÂa Arango as the youngest of 9 children.
Betancourt was a member of the government of president Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. He later became assistant director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He was also head of the education commission of the Alliance for Progress in Washington, D.C., under John F. Kennedy.
Gabriel Betancourt was the father of the politician and former FARC hostage ÃÂngrid Betancourt. Gabriel Betancourt divorced his wife Yolanda Pulecio in 1980 and was granted custody of his daughters. Gabriel Betancourt died of heart and respiratory trouble a month after ÃÂngrid's kidnapping, without seeing his daughter again.