 He has also served as the President of the Agrarian Bank of Colombia, Minister of Communications, Mayor of Cúcuta, and Colombian Consul in Pretoria, and São Paulo.In 1996 while serving as General Secretary of the Colombian Liberal Party, President Ernesto Samper Pizano appointed Bautista as Deputy Minister of Communications, officially being sworn in on 27 August 1996.The next year on 26 August 1997, Bautista was appointed Minister of Communications replacing his former boss Saulo Arboleda Gómez.