| Rodrigo Hernán Lloreda Caicedo | |
| Office: | Minister of National Defence |
| Term Start: | 7 August 1998 |
| Term End: | 30 May 1999 |
| President: | Andrés Pastrana |
| Predecessor: | Gilberto Echeverri Mejía |
| Successor: | Luis Fernando Remirez |
| Order2: | 22nd |
| Ambassador From2: | Colombia |
| Country2: | United States |
| Term Start2: | 15 January 1986 |
| Term End2: | 11 March 1986 |
| Predecessor2: | Álvaro Gómez Hurtado |
| Successor2: | Francisco Posada de La Peña |
| President2: | Belisario Betancur |
| Office3: | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Term Start3: | 7 August 1982 |
| Term End3: | 5 July 1984 |
| President3: | Belisario Betancur |
| Predecessor3: | Carlos Lemos Simmonds |
| Successor3: | Augusto Ramírez Ocampo |
| Office4: | Minister of National Education |
| Term Start4: | 7 August 1978 |
| Term End4: | 14 May 1980 |
| President4: | Julio César Turbay |
| Predecessor4: | Rafael Rivas Posada |
| Successor4: | Guillermo Angulo Gómez |
| Order5: | 51st |
| Office5: | Governor of Valle del Cauca |
| Term Start5: | 16 September 1968 |
| Term End5: | 18 August 1970 |
| Appointer5: | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
| Predecessor5: | Libardo lozano Guerrero |
| Successor5: | Marino Réngifo Salcedo |
| Birth Name: | Rodrigo Hernán Lloreda Caicedo |
| Birth Date: | 2 September 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Cali, Cauca Valley, Colombia |
| Death Place: | Cali, Cauca Valley, Colombia |
| Nationality: | Colombian |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Spouse: | Aura Lucía Mera Becerra (1964-1971; divorce) María Eugenia Piedrahíta Plata (1974-2000; his death) |
| Children: | Rodrigo Lloreda Mera Francisco José Lloreda Mera María Mercedes Lloreda Mera Aura Lucía Lloreda Mera María Eugenia Lloreda Piedrahíta |
| Alma Mater: | Pontifical Xavierian University (LLB, 1965) |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
Rodrigo Hernán Lloreda Caicedo (2 September 1942 — 4 February 2000) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who was appointed to several senior positions under different presidents, with both domestic and foreign affairs responsibilities, beginning in 1968 as appointed governor of his department and briefly as ambassador to the United States. In his last post, Lloreda was the 17th Minister of National Defence, serving under President Andrés Pastrana Arango from 1998 to 1999.
Born on 2 September 1942 in Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Rodrigo Hernán was the youngest of three children of Álvaro Lloreda Caicedo, a wealthy Colombian industrialist and politician, who in 1949 founded the newspaper El Pais (Cali), which he directed for 25 years. His mother was Mercedes Caicedo Ortiz, from Costa Rica.[1]
His family's political and economic status meant that Lloreda received a privileged education. After attending the Colegio Berchmans in Cali, he completed most of his primary and secondary studies abroad, first in Switzerland at the École nouvelle de la Suisse romande; then in the United States at the Nyack School for Boys in Nyack, New York; and the Georgetown Preparatory School in Rockville, Maryland. He returned to Colombia after his graduation and was accepted to the Pontifical Xavierian University, where he graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Laws.[1] [2]
Lloreda became active in the Conservative party, in which his family had held offices for two generations. In 1968 at the age of 26, he was appointed to a four-year term by the President of Colombia as the 51st Governor of Valle del Cauca, his home province.[3] (Since 1991, governors have been elected by popular vote.)
He also served in other appointed positions: as the 22nd Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations, Ambassador to the United States (1986),[4] the 63rd Minister of National Education, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. In his last position, he was appointed as the 17th Minister of National Defence, serving under President Andrés Pastrana Arango from 1998 to 1999. Lloreda died of cancer in February 2000.
Lloreda met Aura Lucía Mera Becerra while he was attending the Pontifical Xavierian University, and they married on 5 December 1964 in Bogotá.[5] Together they had four children: twin boys, Rodrigo and Francisco José; María Mercedes, and Aura Lucía. The couple divorced in 1971.[5]
On 12 October 1974 Lloreda married again, to the folk singer María Eugenia Piedrahíta Plata. They have a daughter, María Eugenia.[5]