Juan Manuel Santos | |
|---|---|
 Santos in 2018 | |
| 32nd President of Colombia | |
| In office 7 August 2010 – 7 August 2018 | |
| Vice President | Angelino Garzón Germán Vargas Lleras Oscar Naranjo |
| Preceded by | Álvaro Uribe |
| Succeeded by | Iván Duque |
| President pro tempore of the Pacific Alliance | |
| In office 30 June 2017 – 24 July 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Michelle Bachelet |
| Succeeded by | Martin Vizcarra |
| In office 23 May 2013 – 20 June 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Sebastián Piñera |
| Succeeded by | Enrique Peña Nieto |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 18 July 2006 – 18 May 2009 | |
| President | Álvaro Uribe |
| Preceded by | Camilo Ospina Bernal |
| Succeeded by | Freddy Padilla de León (acting) |
| Minister of Finance and Public Credit | |
| In office 7 August 2000 – 7 August 2002 | |
| President | Andrés Pastrana Arango |
| Preceded by | Juan Camilo Restrepo Salazar |
| Succeeded by | Roberto Junguito Bonnet |
| Minister of Foreign Trade | |
| In office 18 November 1991 – 7 August 1994 | |
| President | César Gaviria |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Mazuera Gómez |
| Presidential Designate of Colombia | |
| In office 11 August 1993 – 7 August 1994 | |
| President | César Gaviria |
| Preceded by | Humberto De la Calle |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Juan Manuel Santos Calderón 10 August 1951 Bogotá, Colombia |
| Political party | Liberal Party (until 2005) Social Party of National Unity (since 2005) |
| Spouse(s) | Silvia Amaya Londoño (divorced) |
| Children | Martín María Antonia Esteban |
| Relatives |
|
| Alma mater | University of Kansas (BA) London School of Economics (MSc) Harvard University (MPA) |
| Awards | Nobel Peace Prize (2016) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Colombia |
| Branch/service | Colombian Navy |
| Years of service | 1967–1971 |
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón GColIH GCB GColL ODB (Spanish: [ˈxwan maˈnwel ˈsantos kaldeˈɾon]; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
An economist by training and a journalist by trade, Santos is a member of the wealthy and influential Santos family, who from 1913 to 2007 were the majority shareholders of El Tiempo, Colombia's newspaper of record.
In 1991, Santos was appointed by President César Gaviria Trujillo as Colombia's first Minister of Foreign Trade. In 2000, he was appointed by President Andrés Pastrana Arango as the 64th Minister of Finance and Public Credit.[1]
Santos rose to prominence during the administration of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who was elected in 2002. In 2005, Santos co-founded and led the Social Party of National Unity (Party of the U), a liberal-conservative party coalition that backed the policies of President Uribe, successfully supporting his attempt to seek a constitutional reform to be able to run for a second term. In 2006, after Uribe's re-election, when the Party of the U won a majority of seats in the two chambers of Congress, Santos was appointed as Minister of National Defence, and continued defending the security policies of President Uribe, taking a strong and forceful stance against FARC and the other guerrilla groups operating in Colombia. His time at the Ministry of Defense was tarnished by the "False positives" scandal, the executions of thousands of civilians that the army passed off as guerrillas killed in combat.
In 2010, Santos won the presidential election as the protégé of Uribe.[2][3] Some months later, Uribe became his strongest opponent, and also founded three years later the opposition party Democratic Center.[4][5] This rivalry determined both Santos' unpopularity and his near-missed defeat during the 2014 Colombian presidential election against Uribe's protégé Óscar Iván Zuluaga.[6][7]
On 7 October 2016, Santos was announced as recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts negotiating a peace treaty with the FARC-guerrilla in the country, despite his defeat in the referendum held over the deal, where the "No" campaign led by Uribe's Democratic Center won narrowly.[8] The Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal on 24 November and sent it to Congress for ratification instead of conducting a second referendum.[9] Both houses of Congress ratified the revised peace accord on 29–30 November 2016, marking an end to the conflict. The treaty brought deep divisions and polarization in the country, which questions its legitimacy.[10] Santos has been named as one of Time's 100 most influential people.[11] Santos left office with one of the lowest levels of popular approval ever,[12][13] and his successor was Uribe's new protégé, Iván Duque, a moderate critic of Santos' peace treaty with the FARC guerillas.[14]
- ^ "En Sus Puestos". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá. 18 July 2000. ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ^ Internet, Unidad Editorial. "Santos: 'Presidente Uribe, éste es su triunfo' | Colombia | elmundo.es". El Mundo. Spain. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ Dávila, Vicky (1 April 2018). El nobel (in Spanish). Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Colombia. ISBN 9789585650534.
- ^ Restrepo, Estefanía Carvajal. "Las peleas que divorciaron a Uribe y Santos". elcolombiano.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ "Santos v Uribe". The Economist. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ Semana (4 August 2018). "¿Por qué Santos fue tan impopular?". Razones que explican la impopularidad de Juan Manuel Santos. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ Mundo, Redacción BBC (13 May 2014). "Colombia: encuesta coloca a Zuluaga derrotando a Santos en primera y segunda vuelta". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 - Press Release". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ "Colombia signs new peace deal with Farc". BBC News. 24 November 2016.
- ^ "Colombia's congress approves historic peace deal with FARC rebels". The Washington Post. 30 November 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
timewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bonces, Eduardo. "Santos termina su Gobierno con una aprobación del 22%". elcolombiano.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ S.A.S., Editorial La República. "Santos se despide con mínimos de desaprobación" (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ "Duque: "mi obsesión desde el primer día de Gobierno es la seguridad"". efe.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2018.