Iván Name, president of the Senate: “The origin of violence, poverty and backwardness in Colombia lies in centralism”

Iván Name (Barranquilla, 67 years old), president of the Senate since July 20, is a traditional Colombian politician: he is a lawyer in love with public speaking; he is the nephew of the liberal chief José Name Terán and the Bogotá councilwoman María Clara Name; he adorns his private office with oil paintings by Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander. But it also embodies the evolution of the political class: he became a politician far f…