The members of the Jury for the 1983 Prince of Asturias Award for Latin-American Cooperation, Miguel Alemán, Manuel Díez Alegría, Rafael Fernández Álvarez, Francisco Fernández Ordóñez, Amaro González de Mesa, Enrique Iglesias, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, Arístides Royo and Luis Yáñez-Barnuevo gathered in Oviedo on the 30th of June and 1st of July, 1983, under the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez and with Teodoro López-Cuesta acting as secretary, have agreed unanimously to grant this award to His Excellency Belisario Betancur, President of Colombia.

In its decision, the Jury has taken into account: the important personal contribution of Dr Betancur and his life-long commitment to the permanent values of the spirit and of culture, to which he has dedicated the greatest of efforts, expressed in recognised intellectual work; his vigorous and hard-working public life, constantly dedicated to the defence of Colombian democratic institutions; and his support for all the initiative of cooperation between the countries of Latin America in the cultural, economic, social and political fields.