| María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar | |
|---|---|
| Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 August 2010 |
|
| President | Juan Manuel Santos Calderón |
| Preceded by | Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde |
| 25th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations | |
| In office 16 September 2004 – 11 September 2006 |
|
| President | Álvaro Uribe Vélez |
| Preceded by | Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento |
| Succeeded by | Claudia Blum Capurro |
| Colombia Ambassador to Venezuela | |
| In office 16 September 2002 – 20 August 2004 |
|
| President | Álvaro Uribe Vélez |
| Preceded by | Germán Bula Escobar |
| Succeeded by | Enrique Vargas Ramírez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 November 1963 |
| Nationality | Colombian |
| Spouse(s) | Santiago Jiménez Mejía (1983-1990) |
| Domestic partner | Carlos Espinosa Pérez |
| Children | Antonio Espinosa Holguín |
| Alma mater | University of the Andes |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Signature | |
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar (born 13 November 1963) is a Colombian political scientist and career diplomat currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. She also served as the 25th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and Colombia Ambassador to Venezuela during President Álvaro Uribe Vélez's first term.
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María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar was born on November 13, 1963 to Julio Holguín Umaña and Lucila Cuéllar Calderón.[1] The Holguíns come from an old well established political family in the history of Colombia, most notably they are descendants of Carlos and Jorge Holguín, Presidents of Colombia from 1888–1892 and 1921-1922 respectively, and are related to a number of other Presidents and key political figures throughout the history of Colombia to present time. She married Santiago Jiménez Mejía on August 27, 1983 but later divorced having no children. She later met Carlos Espinosa Pérez with whom she had a son, Antonio, on January 23, 1991
She studied at the Gimnasio Femenino school in Bogota, French at the Université Paris X, and graduated from the University of the Andes in 1988 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science where she also completed a specialization in Public Management and Administrative Institutions in 1992.
In 2010, while serving as Colombia Representative to the Andean Development Corporation in Buenos Aires, the newly president-elect Juan Manuel Santos Calderón nominated Holguín to head the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her nomination to the Chancellery was hailed as a wise political move given the diplomatic problems in the region following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis; Holguín's Ambassadorship in Venezuela was overall seen as the tacit endorsement that enabled her to tackle the diplomatic détente between the sister nations, while her work with the Andean Development Corporation signalled Santos' desire to strengthen ties with the rest of the continent.
Before having officially taken office, Holguín accompanied president-elect Santos on his first overseas trip after being elected, taking the diplomatic role head on during their meetings with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.[2] Holguín as Chancellor-designate also headed talks with the Venezuelan Chancellor Nicolás Maduro that spearheaded the renewal of diplomatic ties with the neighbouring nation that were later formalized in a meeting held in Santa Marta between the two Presidents.[3] Holguín then travelled to Ecuador to meet with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño to convince Quito to renew diplomatic ties and to personally invite President Rafael Correa to attend the inauguration,[4] a feat she managed having in mind that Ecuador had an arrest warrant for Santos for his action as Minister of National Defence of Colombia.
On August 7, 2010 after Santos was officially sworn in as President of Colombia, Holguín followed suit and was officially sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On June 3, 2011, Holguín declared, following a working meeting in Washington, that Colombia will continue to be the most "pro-United States" country in Latin America, despite pending issues such as the Free-Trade Agreement (FTA).[5]