Gran Cruz con Placa de Oro

On October 23, 2024, in the context of COP16, the UN biodiversity conference held in Calí, Colombia, I was honored by the Colombian Congress with the "Gran Cruz con Placa de Oro" on recommendation of the honorable representative Julia Miranda.

According to Colombian law, "La Gran Cruz con Placa de Oro", may be granted to Parliamentarians, former Parliamentarians, Ambassadors, Ministers of State, Generals of the Armed Forces, Admirals, Marshals, Foreign Cardinals, Princes of Reigning Houses, and to national or foreign personalities whose categories are equivalent to those already mentioned. (Article 9: "La Gran Cruz con Placa de Oro, podrá concederse a Parlamentarios, ex Parlamentarios, Embajadores, Ministros de Estado, Generales de las Fuerzas Armadas, Almirantes, Mariscales, Cardenales extranjeros, Príncipes de Casas reinantes, y a personalidades nacionales o extranjeras cuyas categorías equivalgan a las ya mencionadas.")

This is the Congress's resolution

This is the official document of the resolution of the Colombian Congress to honor Mathis Wackernagel with the la Gran Cruz con Placa de Oro. It also contains the rationale for which they chose to bestow Mathis with this great honor.

The side event was presided by the presidents of both chambers, Jaime Raúl Salamanca, Presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, and Efraín Cepeda, Presidente del Senado de la República de Colombia. It was also supported by Representante Julia Miranda Loroño, Dilian Francisca Toro, the governor of the Valle del Cauca, as well as Senadora Aída Yolanda Avella.