Juan Manuel Santos

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Santos and the second or maternal family name is Calderón.
Juan Manuel Santos
32nd President of Colombia
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 August 2010
Vice President Angelino Garzón
Germán Vargas Lleras
Preceded by Álvaro Uribe
Minister of National Defence
In office
19 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
Personal details
Born Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
10 August 1951
Bogotá, Colombia
Political party Liberal Party (Before 2005)
Social Party of National Unity (2005–present)
Spouse(s) Silvia Amaya Londoño (Divorced)
María Clemencia Rodríguez Múnera (1987–present)
Children Martín
María Antonia
Esteban
Residence Casa de Nariño
Alma mater University of Kansas, Lawrence
London School of Economics
Harvard University
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature

Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (Spanish: [xwan maˈnwel ˈsantos kaldeˈɾon]; born 10 August 1951) is the 32nd and current President of Colombia, in office since 2010. He was Minister of Defence from 2006 to 2009.

An economist by profession 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 the El Tiempo newspaper until its sale in 2007 to Planeta DeAgostini. Shortly after graduating from the University of Kansas, he joined the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia as an economic advisor and delegate to the International Coffee Organization in London, where he also attended the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 1981, he was appointed deputy director of El Tiempo, becoming its director two years later.

In 1991, he was appointed by President César Gaviria Trujillo as Colombia's first Minister of Foreign Trade. Santos worked in expanding international trade with Colombia, and worked in creating various agencies for this purpose including: Proexport, Bancoldex, and Fiducoldex. 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. In 2005, he 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 was re-elected, and the Party of the U won a majority of seats in both chambers of Congress, Santos was appointed 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. He oversaw rescue operations of hostages, including Operation Jaque that led to the rescue of former presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt, three American citizens, and 11 other members of the Colombian Army that had been held for several years. Though widely viewed as a heroic endeavour that cemented Santos' popularity, the rescue was criticised for misappropriating emblems of the International Red Cross, a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Early life

Santos attended Colegio San Carlos,[2] a private secondary school in Bogotá, where he spend most of his school years until 1967, when he enlisted in the Colombian Navy and transferred to the Admiral Padilla Naval Cadet School in Cartagena, graduating from it in 1969, and continuing in the Navy until 1971, finishing with the rank of naval cadet NA-42 139.[3] After leaving the Navy, Santos moved to the United States where he attended the University of Kansas. A member of Delta Upsilon fraternity,[4] he graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor in Economics and Business Administration.[5] He later attended the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating with a Master of Science in Economic Development in 1975,[6] and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, graduating with a Master of Public Administration in 1981.[7] A Fulbright visiting fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1981,[8] and a Nieman visiting fellow at the Harvard Business School at Harvard University in 1988,[9] Santos also holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Career

Juan Manuel Santos served as Chief Executive of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia to the International Coffee Organization[10] in London and Deputy Director of his family owned newspaper El Tiempo. He was Minister of Foreign Trade of Colombia during the administration of President César Gaviria Trujillo from 1991 to 1994,[11] Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia during the administration of President Andres Pastrana Arango from 2000 to 2002.[1] In 1992 he was appointed President of the VIII United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.[12]

In 1994 Juan Manuel Santos founded the Good Government Foundation, whose stated objective is helping and improving the governability and efficiency of the Colombian Government.[13][14][15] This organization presented a proposal for a demilitarized zone and peace talks with the FARC guerrilla group.[16]

Minister of Defense

Minister Santos with his counterpart, U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, during a visit to the Pentagon in 2008

Santos also founded the Social National Unity Party (Party of the U) to support the presidency of Álvaro Uribe. He was named Minister of Defence on 19 July 2006. During his tenure as Defence Minister, the administration dealt a series of blows against the FARC guerrilla group, including the rescue of Fernando Araújo Perdomo, the death of FARC Secretariat member Raul Reyes in a 2 March 2008 air strike against a guerrilla camp located within Ecuador's borders, and the non-violent rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt held captive since 2002, along with fourteen other hostages, including three Americans.[17]

During his time as Defence Minister, notable controversial events included a military raid inside Ecuador's territory that killed FARC leader Raúl Reyes on 1 March 2008.[18] There was a misuse of an International Committee of the Red Cross symbol during Operation Jaque used to safely rescue hostages from FARC.[19]

In 2008 the 'false positives' scandal was uncovered, referring to revelations concerning extrajudicial executions carried out by members of the military in order to artificially increase the number of guerrillas killed by the Army and claim rewards from the government.[20] On 4 November 2008, Santos admitted that the military had carried out extrajudicial executions and he pledged to resolve the issue.[21] Twenty-seven military officers, including three generals and eleven colonels, were sacked after an internal army investigation concluded that they were responsible for administrative failures and irregularities in reporting enemy casualties and operational results.[22] The Commander of the Colombian National Army, General Mario Montoya, resigned.[23] By May 2009, 67 soldiers had been found guilty and over 400 were arrested pending trial.[24]

There are different estimates for the number of civilians who may have been killed in this manner. As of May 2009, prosecutors were investigating more than 900 cases involving over 1.500 victims and 1.177 members of the Colombian security forces.[24][25] According to the Coordinación Colombia-Europa-Estados Unidos NGO coalition and the Fundación para la Educación y el Desarrollo, an estimated 3.756 extrajudicial executions occurred between 1994 and 2009, of which 3.084 cases would have taken place after 2002.[26][27]

Families of the victims and non-governmental organisations have held the Uribe administration and Santos, as Defence Minister, responsible for the extrajudicial killings because they consider that the government's reward policies motivated the crimes.[26][27] Directive 029 of 2005 issued under Defence Minister Camilo Ospina Bernal and presidential decree 1400 of May 2006 have been questioned for offering incentives and benefits in exchange for capturing or killing members of illegal armed groups.[25][27]

In June 2009, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston declared that extrajudicial executions had been carried out in a "more or less systematic manner" by numerous Colombian military personnel and found the number of trials for those implicated to be lacking, but stated that he had found no evidence of the executions being an official government policy and acknowledged a decrease in the number of reported cases.[28]

In March 2010, Santos publicly stated these executions had stopped since October 2008 and that this had been confirmed by the CINEP, one of Colombia's foremost human rights defence institutions. Semana, a well-respected news weekly, reported that a few days later the CINEP responded to Santos's declarations by issuing a press release which stated that, while the number of reported cases had been significantly reduced after the Defence Ministry's measures were announced, the period between November 2008 and December 2009 still saw 7 such executions and 2 arbitrary detentions.[29]

Juan Manuel Santos announced his resignation from the Defence Ministry on 18 May 2009. Santos said that his resignation did not necessarily imply tossing his hat into the 2010 presidential race and that his participation in the electoral race depended on whether Uribe would pursue a third term, which he was willing to support. His resignation took effect on 23 May 2009. When the Constitutional Court ruled out the possibility of Uribe's participation in the upcoming elections, Santos officially launched his campaign for the presidency of the Republic of Colombia.

President of Colombia

Santos and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 9 June 2010.

On 20 June 2010, after two rounds of voting in the Presidential election, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón was officially elected as President of Colombia and was inaugurated on 7 August 2010 in the midst of a diplomatic crisis with Venezuela, which was quickly resolved.[30]

Santos announced on 27 August 2012 that the Colombian government has engaged in exploratory talks with FARC in order to seek an end to the conflict.[31][32] He also said that he would learn from the mistakes of previous leaders, who failed to secure a lasting ceasefire with FARC, though the military would still continue operations throughout Colombia while talks continued.[31] According to an unnamed Colombian intelligence source, Santos would have offered FARC assurances that no one would be extradited to stand trial in another country.[33] The move has been viewed as a cornerstone of Santos' presidency. Former President Uribe has criticised Santos for seeking peace "at any costs" in contrast to his predecessor's rejection of talks.[34]

In October 2012, Santos received the Shalom Prize "for his commitment to seeking peace in his country and worldwide." Upon accepting the award from the Latin American chapter of the World Jewish Congress, Santos stated that “Both the people here and the people in Israel have been seeking peace for decades,” adding that Colombia is in favour of a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[35][36]

During a Google hangout hosted by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on May 20, 2014, Santos voiced his support for same-sex marriage. "Marriage between homosexuals to me is perfectly acceptable and what’s more I am defending unions that exist between two people of the same sex with the rights and all of the same privileges that this union should receive," said Santos.[37]

Presidential campaigns

2014 presidential campaign

On 20 November 2013, Santos announced his intent to run for re-election in a presidential address,[38] and formalised his intent by filing election papers with the National Civil Registry on 25 November.[39][40] As the incumbent president he ran virtually unopposed in the Social Party of National Unity convention, receiving 772 votes of the 787 party delegates, and receiving the party's nomination on 28 January 2014.[41] Santos and his allies also lobbied for the support of other political parties, receiving the nomination from the Liberal and Radical Change parties,[42][43] forming the National Unity Coalition.

On 12 March Santos officially launched his re-election campaign for the 2014 presidential election under the slogan: "We have done much, there is much to be done".[44] On 24 February, Santos announced that the running mate for his 2014 reelection campaign would be is Germán Vargas Lleras, a veteran politician from one of Colombia’s most powerful political dynasties, and his former Minister of Housing, City and Territory. The decision to replace Vice President Garzón as his running mate was an expected one, as Garzón has already announced his desire to retire from politics.

On 15 May, Santos obtained 25.69% of the votes, falling behind his main rival, Óscar Iván Zuluaga Escobar of the Democratic Center, who obtained 29.25% of the votes. Since not one candidate earned the required majority, a run-off election was announced. In the second round, Santos received the backing and support of his former electoral rival: Clara López Obregón of the Alternative Democratic Pole,[45] as well from dissident members of the Conservative and Green parties.

On 15 June, Santos won 50.95% of the popular vote during the second round of the election. President Santos addressed supporters and volunteers gathered at the campaign's headquarters in the Claustro de La Enseñanza after his reelection and said: "This is the end of 50 years of conflict in this country, and it is the beginning of a new Colombia". Santos victory which was much smaller than his landslide result in 2010, was credited with strategic endorsements from left-wing politicians such as Clara López who appeared on a T.V. endorsement for Santos despite having nearly polar opposite views on many issues.Helped Santos who had stumbled neck and neck with his Conservative challenger on polls up to the second election round. Many among the Left that had their fortunes decline since the start of the FARC insurgency and hoped a peaceful negotiation with FARC, which required a Santos victory. This they hoped would rehabilitate the left among the Conservative-Liberal dominated political scene in Colombia.

Family and personal life

Juan Manuel was born on 10 August 1951 in Bogotá to Enrique Santos Castillo and his wife Clemencia Calderón Nieto,[46] the third of four children, his brothers are: Enrique, Luis Fernando, and Felipe.[47] The Santos family has been a well established and influential family since the mid-20th century; his great-great-grandaunt was María Antonia Santos Plata, a martyr of the Independence of Colombia, and his great-granduncle was Eduardo Santos Montejo,[48] President of Colombia between 1938 and 1942, who acquired the national newspaper El Tiempo. From there, his family has been connected to the newspaper and influenced the political life of the country; Eduardo's brother, Enrique, grandfather of Juan Manuel, and editor in chief of El Tiempo, was known as "Calibán" to his readers, and his three sons, Enrique (Juan Manuel's father) and Hernando Santos Castillo, and Enrique Santos Molano were chief editor, director, and columnist respectively. Through his father's brother, Hernando, and his mother's sister, Elena, Juan Manuel is also first cousin on both sides to Francisco Santos Calderón, former Vice President of Colombia during the previous administration from 2002 to 2010.[48][49]

Santos first married Silvia Amaya Londoño, a film director and television presenter, but divorced three years later having no children together.[49][50] He then married María Clemencia Rodríguez Múnera, or "Tutina" as she is known to those close to her, an industrial designer he had met while she worked as a private secretary at the Ministry of Communications and he was Deputy Director of El Tiempo.[50] Together they had three children, Martín (b. 1989), María Antonia (b. 1991), and Esteban (b. 1993).[51][52]

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "En Sus Puestos". El Tiempo (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 18 July 2000. ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "El Colegio San Carlos ha sido un gran formador de líderes, destacó el Presidente Santos" (in Spanish). Bogotá: Colombia, Office of the President. 6 February 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Colombia tiene un nuevo Presidente. Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Cadete NA 42" [Colombia has a new President. Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Cadet NA 42] (in Spanish). Escuela Naval de Cadetes. 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  4. ↑ Esau, John (November 2012). "Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Visits Delta Upsilon Chapter at the University of Kansas". Delta Upsilon Quarterly (Indianapolis, IN: Delta Upsilon Fraternity) 130 (4): 38–39. OCLC 6644516. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Colombian president to visit KU Sept. 24". Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "LSE Leaders". London School of Economics.
  7. ↑ Gavel, Doug (24 June 2010). "Kennedy School Alumnus Elected President of Colombia". Cambridge, MA: John F. Kennedy School of Government. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Laurels". Tufts Magazine (Medford, MA). 2010. ISSN 1535-5063. OCLC 45710313. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Class of 1988". Cambridge, MA: Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  10. ↑ International Coffee Organization
  11. ↑ "Retos del Nuevo Gabinete". El Tiempo (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 10 November 1991. ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Ardila Durán, Hermógenes; Escobar, Marcela (8 February 1992). "Cita del Mundo al Desarrollo". El Tiempo (in Spanish) (Bogotá). ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Fundacion Buen Gobierno. "Portal de Fundacion Buen Gobierno". Buengobierno.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  14. ↑ "Juan Manuel Santos - Biografia Y Fotos". ColombiaLink.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  15. ↑ "Fundación Buengobierno". Archived from the original on 2 February 1999.
  16. ↑ "Propuesta de Paz". Archived from the original on 9 February 1999.
  17. ↑ ":: Presidencia de la República de Colombia ::". Presidencia.gov.co. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  18. ↑ "CNN news". CNN. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  19. ↑ Karl Penhaul CNN (6 August 2008). "CNN News". CNN. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  20. ↑ "Las cuentas de los falsos positivos" (in Spanish). Semana (Colombia). 27 January 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  21. ↑ "El Mindefensa reconoce ejecuciones extrajudiciales" (in Spanish). El Espectador. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  22. ↑ "El ‘dossier’ secreto de los falsos positivos" (in Spanish). Semana (Colombia). 25 January 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  23. ↑ "Colombian army commander resigns". BBC News. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Toxic fallout of Colombian scandal". BBC News. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Traspié en política de seguridad colombiana" (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Denuncian más de 3 mil ejecuciones extrajudiciales entre 2002 y 2009" (in Spanish). El Espectador. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Soacha: La punta del iceberg. Falsos positivos e impunidad" (PDF) (in Spanish). Fundación para la Educación y el Desarrollo. 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  28. ↑ "ONU confirma desalentador panorama en Derechos Humanos" (in Spanish). El Espectador. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  29. ↑ "Cinep a Santos: "falsos positivos no han dejado de ser un problema"". Semana.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  30. ↑ "Venezuela Resumes Relations It Severed with Colombia". Latin American International Tribune. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Murphy, Helen; Acosta, Luis James (27 August 2012). "Colombian government seeking peace with FARC rebels". Reuters. Yahoo News. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  32. ↑ "Colombia agrees to hold peace talks with Farc rebels". BBC. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  33. ↑ "Government, FARC rebels agree to peace talks". Reuters. France 24. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  34. ↑ "Colombia seeking peace with FARC rebels - Americas". Al Jazeera English. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  35. ↑ Colombia’s president awarded Shalom Prize, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 23 October 2012.
  36. ↑ Colombian leader says world must recognize Israel as state of Jewish people, World Jewish Congress, 17 October 2012.
  37. ↑ Colombia president backs same-sex marriage, Washington Blade, 27 May 2014.
  38. ↑ Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel (20 November 2013). Alocución del Presidente de la República, Juan Manuel Santos (PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS) (in Spanish). Bogotá: Colombia, Office of the President. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  39. ↑ Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel (25 November 2013). "Carta de Radicación" (PDF) (Letter) (in Spanish). Bogotá. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  40. ↑ "Acta de Deposito de Documento" (PDF) (in Spanish). Colombia, National Civil Registry. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  41. ↑ "'Fui fiel a mis promesas': Santos a La U". Semana (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 28 January 2014. ISSN 0124-5473. OCLC 7475329. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  42. ↑ "Santos volvió a agitar el trapo rojo". Semana (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 18 February 2014. ISSN 0124-5473. OCLC 7475329. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  43. ↑ Muñoz Vargas, César (4 March 2014). "Santos y Vargas ya tienen el aval de Cambio Radical". El Heraldo (in Spanish). ISSN 0122-6142. OCLC 20412212. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  44. ↑ "'Hemos hecho mucho, falta mucho por hacer', eslogan de la reelección". El Tiempo (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 13 March 2014. ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  45. ↑ "Clara López votará por Juan Manuel Santos". Semana (in Spanish) (Bogotá). 4 June 2014. ISSN 0124-5473. OCLC 7475329.
  46. ↑ "Pefil: ¿Quién es Juan Manuel Santos?" [Profile, Who is Juan Manuel Santos?]. El Tiempo. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  47. ↑ "Colombia: murió el ex editor de El Tiempo, Enrique Santos" [Colombia:Dies the Former Editor of El Tiempo]. La Nación (in Spanish). 23 November 2001. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 "Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, Vástago de una familia de propietarios periodísticos" [Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, Scion of a family of newspaper owners] (in Spanish). Center for International Relations and Development Studies. 2010-08-23. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 García Vásquez, Julio Cesar (2009-08-14). Francisco Y Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Familiares Y Parentela [Francisco and Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Family and Kin]. Genealogía Colombiana, Volumen IV (in Spanish) (Interconexion Colombia). Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 "Familia Santos" [Santos Family]. Telemundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  51. ↑ "Los nuevos inquilinos de la Casa de Nariño" [The New Occupants of the Nariño House]. El País (in Spanish). 4 August 2010. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  52. ↑ "Mi papá, Juan Manuel Santos" [My Dad, Juan Manuel Santos]. Semana (in Spanish). 18 May 2010. ISSN 0124-5473. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

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Political offices
Preceded by
Álvaro Uribe		 President of Colombia
2010–present 		Incumbent