MI COLOMBIA features interviews with many famous Colombians. Below are just a few of the notable people featured in the program.

JUANES
In both critical respect and commercial success, he has quickly become the leading music artist in the Spanish speaking world. Both an electrifying guitarist and socially conscious songwriter that critics are putting alongside artists such as Bono and Bruce Springsteen, Juanes confronts the violence of his native Colombia’s continued conflict, while pointing to the love of family and respect of countrymen as the way to rise above the fray. Millions of fans have adopted the songs of this poetic rocker as virtual anthems for Latino pride, prayers for peace, and the strength of true love.

For more information, visit Juanes.net.

EDGAR RENTERIA
A rangy shortstop with a penchant for delivering clutch hits, Renteria was best known for driving home the winning run of the 1997 World Series in dramatic, sudden-death fashion.

The Colombian native was nearly three months shy of legal drinking age when the Florida Marlins called him up from Triple-A Charlotte in May 1996. He finished second in NL Rookie of the Year balloting after batting .309 with 16 steals and 68 runs scored in 106 games.

(biography source: Baseball Library)
(photo source: mlb.com)

AMPARO AMAYA
A shoe shiner and writer born in Cundinamarca, Colombia, Amaya attended school until the fifth grade and wrote her first verse at the age of seven. Her life has been marked by two extremes: the hardships of life on the streets and her love of literature. Amaya has written numerous short stories and poems. Her works include “Escribiendo Como Loca” (Writing like Crazy), “El Bosque de Letras” (The forest of letters), "Observando el Universo” (Observing the Universe) and her most recent, “Tres Escritos Para María Mercedes Carranza."

RAFAEL CALIXTO ESCALONA MARTINEZ
Was born in Patillal, Cesar, Colombia on May 27, 1927. He was the seventh of nine brothers of a family conformed by Clemente Escalona Labarces, colonel of the war of the Thousand days in Colombia, and Margarita Martínez Celedón. Writing verses, little by little he collected stories that would be the base of his famous vallenatos; the first one was composed, in February of 1943, when he reached 15 years. This was followed by 85 compositions more, melodies in which not only his life would be reconstructed, but also the old department of "Magdalena."

Rafael Escalona has received many awards and tributes and also he has been a diplomat. But perhaps the largest recognition was that Gabriel Garcia Márquez said that "a Hundred years of Solitude was not more than a vallenato of 350 pages."

(source: Columbialink.com)

DAVID SANCHEZ JULIAO
David Sanchez Juliao is an internationally recognized writer of novels, short stories and true stories, plays, and screenplays for movie and television. With an academic background in literature and sociology, he has been a lecturer, visiting professor and visiting writer at universities and campuses in Latin America, the Caribbean, USA, Canada, Western and Eastern Europe, Egypt, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. On three occasions he has been awarded the Colombian National Prize for literature in the genre of short stories. His acclaimed novel, But I continue to be the king, has received one of the prestigious awards in South American: the Plaza y J anes International Prize of Literature (1983), since translated into five languages.

Ambassadorial appointments in Colombia are customarily awarded to career diplomats. However, as sign of appreciation and recognition of his sophistication and high cultural achievement, David Sanchez Juliao was awarded the ambassadorship from Colombia to India (1990-1993) and to Egypt (1995-1996). The experience of these years has further widened his literary and cultural horizon.

For more information, please visit DavidSanchezJuliao.com.

LUIS CARLOS PEREA
Luis Carlos Perea (born December 29, 1963 in Turbo) is a former football defender from Colombia. Between 1987 and 1994 he played 78 international matches and scored 2 goals for the Colombia national team. This includes six appearances at the 1990 World Cup and the the 1994 World Cup. His clubs as a player include Atlético Nacional, Toros Neza, Atlético Junior, Deportes Tolima, Independiente Medellín and Necaxa. He currently works as a player development coach in Miami Strike Force.

(source: Wikipedia)

EUCARIO BERMUDEZ
A veteran Colombian journalist with more than 40 years of experience, Eucario Bermudez has received many international awards throughout his career. Bermudez moved to Miami 23 years ago and became a pioneer in the Colombian radio in South Florida. He currently serves as the community services director at Radio Caracol in Miami, wherer he is also co-host for the news morning show and director of the noon news show.