Juan Manuel Santos

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**Juan Manuel Santos**
Ministry of National Defense

*Ministerio de Defensa Nacional*
Incumbent
In office since	July 19, 2006
Preceded by	Camilo Ospina Bernal
Born	1950 Bogotá Colombia
Residence	Bogotá
Political party	Party of the U
Profession(s)	Economist

Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician born in 1950 in the capital city of Bogotá, currently serving as Colombian Minister of National Defense.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
2 Philantropy
3 Family
4 References

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Santos-Calderón spent most of his childhood in Bogotá and attended Middle School and High School at Colegio San Carlos. His last years of high school were spent as a Cadet in the Escuela Naval de Cartagena (Naval Academy of Cartagena), where he was a classmate and superior of the FARC-EP guerrilla leader known as Simon Trinidad. He continued his studies in the University of Kansas obtaining a degree in Economy and Business Administration. He later aquired masters in Economy, Economic Development and Public Administration in the London School of Economy and Harvard University.[1]

He earned scholarships from the Fulbright Fundation in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He has been awarded an Honoris Causa doctorate in Law.[2]

[edit] Career

Santos-Calderón has been Chief Executive of the Colombian Coffee Delegation to the International Coffee Organization in London, Sub-Director of his family owned newespaper El Tiempo and a columnist for 14 different newspapers. He has been Colombian Minister of Foreign Trade during the administration of president Cesar Gaviria in 1991. In 1992 was appointed as President of the VII United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for a period of 4 years. In 1999 was appointed as President of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and got to be Director of the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) for the period of 2001-2002.

En 1992 fue elegido por 4 años Presidente de la VII Conferencia de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para el Comercio y el Desarrollo (UNCTAD) y al año siguiente fue elegido por 2 años presidente de la CEPAL

Santos-Calderón also founded the Social National Unity Party (aka Party of the U) to support the presidency of Alvaro Uribe. He is the Colombian Minister of Defense since July 19, 2006.[3]

[edit] Philantropy

In 1994 Santos-Calderón founded the Good Government Foundation with the main objective of helping and improving the governability and efficiency of the Colombian Government.[4][5]

[edit] Family

Santos-Calderón is part of one of the most traditional families in Colombia. His granfather's brother Eduardo Santos was President of Colombia from 1938 to 1942 and owner and Director of the newspaper El Tiempo. His father Enrique Santos Castillo has been editor of this newspaper for at least 50 years. His cousin Francisco Santos Calderón is President Alvaro Uribe's Vice President of Colombia.