Juan 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-42z 139.
College/University
Career
Gallery of Juan Santos
2010
10 Downing St, Westminster, London SW1A 2AA, UK
Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron (R) speaks with Colombia's President-Elect, Juan Manuel Santos inside number 10 Downing Street on July 5, 2010 in London, England. President elect Santos was elected on May 20, 2010 and will become President on August 7, 2010.
(July 4, 2010 - Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2011
Westminster, London SW1A 1AA, UK
Queen Elizabeth meets with the President of Columbia, Juan Manuel Santos, as his wife Maria in a private audience at Buckingham Palace.
(Source: Bauer Griffin)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2011
Calle de Bailén, s/n, 28071 Madrid, Spain
King Juan Carlos of Spain (R) and Queen Sofia of Spain (L) recieve Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (2L) and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez (2R) at The Royal Palace on April 11, 2011 in Madrid, Spain.
(April 10, 2011 - Source: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2011
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (R) speaks as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens during their meeting April 7, 2011 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Both Presidents were expected to approve the recently agreed-upon Action Plan Related to Labor Rights and to discuss next steps with regard to the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, according the a White House news release.
(April 6, 2011 - Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2011
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) speaks as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens during their meeting April 7, 2011 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Both Presidents were expected to approve the recently agreed-upon Action Plan Related to Labor Rights and to discuss next steps with regard to the U.S. Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, according the a White House news release.
(April 6, 2011 - Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2013
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Barack Obama (R) sits with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in the Oval Office of the White House December 3, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama and Santos commented on last year's free trade accord among other subjects.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2013
900 E Main St, Richmond, VA 23219, USA
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2013 in New York City. Over 120 prime ministers, presidents and monarchs are gathering this week for the annual meeting at the temporary General Assembly Hall at the U.N. headquarters while the General Assembly Building is closed for renovations.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2013
Ramallah, West Bank
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) poses with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting on June 11, 2013 in Ramallah, West Bank. President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos is on an official visit to the region.
(June 10, 2013 - Source: Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2013
Downing St, Westminster, London, UK
British Prime minister David Cameron meets Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos at Downing Street on June 6, 2013 in London, England.
(June 5, 2013 - Source: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2014
Calle Bécquer, 1, 3, 41002 Sevilla, Spain
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos visit La Macarena Church on October 30, 2014 in La Macarena, Colombia. The Royal Couple are on a four day visit to Colombia as part of a Royal tour to Colombia and Mexico. After fifty years of armed conflict in Colombia the theme for the visit is Peace and Reconciliation.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images South America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2014
Cra. 7, Bogotá, Colombia
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall poses with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales the First Lady of Colombia María Clemencia Rodríguez Múnera and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos at the Presidential Palace for an Official Welcome on October 29, 2014 in Bogota, Colombia. The Royal Couple are on a four day visit to Colombia as part of a Royal tour to Colombia and Mexico. After fifty years of armed conflict in Colombia the theme for the visit is Peace and Reconciliation.
(Source: Chris Jackson/Getty Images South America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2015
Calle de Bailén, s/n, 28071 Madrid, Spain
King Felipe VI of Spain (2nd-R) and Queen Letizia of Spain (L) receive the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos (2nd-L) and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos (R) for a Gala dinner at the Royal Palace on March 2, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
(March 1, 2015 - Source: Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2015
Calle Manuel Alonso, s/n, 28048 Madrid, Spain
King Felipe VI of Spain (R) receives the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos (L) at El Pardo Royal Palace on March 1, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
(Source: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Rådhusplassen 1, 0037 Oslo, Norway
President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia receives his Nobel Peace Prize Award during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo Town Hall on December 10, 2016 in Oslo, Norway.
(Source: Nigel Waldron/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Rådhusplassen 1, 0037 Oslo, Norway
Members of the Nobel committee Olav Njoelstad (L) and Berit Reiss-Andersen (R) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos attend a press conference in Oslo on December 9, 2016. Santos said the Nobel Peace Prize was a "gift from heaven" and gave a "tremendous push" to reach a new agreement with FARC rebels.
(Source: AFP)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Henrik Ibsens gate 51, 0255 Oslo, Norway
Nobel Peace prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (C) signs a protocol in the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, on December 9, 2016, as members of the Nobel committee (behind him, L-R) Olav Njoelstad, Thorbjoern Jagland, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Ytterhorn and Berit Reiss-Andersen look on..President Juan Manuel Santos receives this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring Colombias more than 50-year-long civil war to an end. /Norway OUT
(Source: AFP)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Clive Steps, King Charles St, London SW1A 2AQ, United Kingdom
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (L) shakes hands with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (R) as they visit the Churchill War Rooms on November 2, 2016 in London, England. The President of the Republic of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos are paying their first State Visit to the UK as official guests of Queen Elizabeth.
(Source: Jack Taylor/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Westminster, London SW1A 1AA, UK
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, center, sits with Greg Hands, Britain's Minister of State for Trade and Investment, left, and Maria Claudia Lacouture, Minister of Trade Industry and Tourism, right, during a business meeting at Buckingham Palace on November 2, 2016 in London, England. The President of the Republic of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos are paying their first State Visit to the UK as official guests of Queen Elizabeth.
(Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Westminster, London SW1A 1AA, UK
Queen Elizabeth II and Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos arrive at Buckingham Palace on November 1, 2016 in London, England. The President is currently making his first state visit to Britain.
(Source: Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
New York City, USA
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos addresses the General Assembly at the United Nations on September 21, 2016 in New York City. Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers are gathering this week for the United Nation's General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting.
(Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2016
Havana
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Timoleon Jimenez, aka "Timochenko" (R), head of the FARC leftist guerrilla, shake hands accompanied by Cuban President Raul Castro (C) during the signing of the peace agreement in Havana on June 23, 2016. Colombia's government and the FARC guerrilla force signed a definitive ceasefire Thursday, taking one of the last crucial steps toward ending Latin America's longest civil war.
(June 22, 2016 - Source: AFP)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2017
Wellington St, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A9, Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon walk down the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, October 30, 2017.
(Oct. 29, 2017 - Source: AFP)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2017
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to the White House for meetings and a joint news conference May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has said it wants to slash foreign aide and Santos will most likely seek a renewal of $450 million dollars from the U.S. that supports the peace accord between the Columbian government at the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).
(May 17, 2017 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2017
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Donald Trump speaks as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos listens during a joint news conference at the White House May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has said it wants to slash foreign aide and Santos will most likely seek a renewal of $450 million dollars from the U.S. that supports the peace accord between the Columbian government at the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).
(May 17, 2017 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Juan Santos
2018
620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA
Juan Manuel Santos speaks onstage during WE Day UN 2018 at Barclays Center on September 26, 2018 in New York City.
(Source: Getty Images North America)
Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron (R) speaks with Colombia's President-Elect, Juan Manuel Santos inside number 10 Downing Street on July 5, 2010 in London, England. President elect Santos was elected on May 20, 2010 and will become President on August 7, 2010.
(July 4, 2010 - Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Queen Elizabeth meets with the President of Columbia, Juan Manuel Santos, as his wife Maria in a private audience at Buckingham Palace.
(Source: Bauer Griffin)
King Juan Carlos of Spain (R) and Queen Sofia of Spain (L) recieve Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (2L) and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez (2R) at The Royal Palace on April 11, 2011 in Madrid, Spain.
(April 10, 2011 - Source: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (R) speaks as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens during their meeting April 7, 2011 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Both Presidents were expected to approve the recently agreed-upon Action Plan Related to Labor Rights and to discuss next steps with regard to the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, according the a White House news release.
(April 6, 2011 - Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images Europe)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) speaks as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens during their meeting April 7, 2011 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Both Presidents were expected to approve the recently agreed-upon Action Plan Related to Labor Rights and to discuss next steps with regard to the U.S. Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, according the a White House news release.
(April 6, 2011 - Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images Europe)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Barack Obama (R) sits with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in the Oval Office of the White House December 3, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama and Santos commented on last year's free trade accord among other subjects.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images North America)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2013 in New York City. Over 120 prime ministers, presidents and monarchs are gathering this week for the annual meeting at the temporary General Assembly Hall at the U.N. headquarters while the General Assembly Building is closed for renovations.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images North America)
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) poses with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting on June 11, 2013 in Ramallah, West Bank. President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos is on an official visit to the region.
(June 10, 2013 - Source: Pool/Getty Images Europe)
British Prime minister David Cameron meets Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos at Downing Street on June 6, 2013 in London, England.
(June 5, 2013 - Source: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Europe)
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos visit La Macarena Church on October 30, 2014 in La Macarena, Colombia. The Royal Couple are on a four day visit to Colombia as part of a Royal tour to Colombia and Mexico. After fifty years of armed conflict in Colombia the theme for the visit is Peace and Reconciliation.
(Source: Pool/Getty Images South America)
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall poses with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales the First Lady of Colombia María Clemencia Rodríguez Múnera and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos at the Presidential Palace for an Official Welcome on October 29, 2014 in Bogota, Colombia. The Royal Couple are on a four day visit to Colombia as part of a Royal tour to Colombia and Mexico. After fifty years of armed conflict in Colombia the theme for the visit is Peace and Reconciliation.
(Source: Chris Jackson/Getty Images South America)
King Felipe VI of Spain (2nd-R) and Queen Letizia of Spain (L) receive the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos (2nd-L) and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos (R) for a Gala dinner at the Royal Palace on March 2, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
(March 1, 2015 - Source: Pool/Getty Images Europe)
King Felipe VI of Spain (R) receives the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos (L) at El Pardo Royal Palace on March 1, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.
(Source: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images Europe)
President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia receives his Nobel Peace Prize Award during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo Town Hall on December 10, 2016 in Oslo, Norway.
(Source: Nigel Waldron/Getty Images Europe)
Members of the Nobel committee Olav Njoelstad (L) and Berit Reiss-Andersen (R) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos attend a press conference in Oslo on December 9, 2016. Santos said the Nobel Peace Prize was a "gift from heaven" and gave a "tremendous push" to reach a new agreement with FARC rebels.
(Source: AFP)
Nobel Peace prize laureate Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (C) signs a protocol in the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, on December 9, 2016, as members of the Nobel committee (behind him, L-R) Olav Njoelstad, Thorbjoern Jagland, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Ytterhorn and Berit Reiss-Andersen look on..President Juan Manuel Santos receives this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring Colombias more than 50-year-long civil war to an end. /Norway OUT
(Source: AFP)
Clive Steps, King Charles St, London SW1A 2AQ, United Kingdom
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (L) shakes hands with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (R) as they visit the Churchill War Rooms on November 2, 2016 in London, England. The President of the Republic of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos are paying their first State Visit to the UK as official guests of Queen Elizabeth.
(Source: Jack Taylor/Getty Images Europe)
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, center, sits with Greg Hands, Britain's Minister of State for Trade and Investment, left, and Maria Claudia Lacouture, Minister of Trade Industry and Tourism, right, during a business meeting at Buckingham Palace on November 2, 2016 in London, England. The President of the Republic of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos are paying their first State Visit to the UK as official guests of Queen Elizabeth.
(Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
Queen Elizabeth II and Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos arrive at Buckingham Palace on November 1, 2016 in London, England. The President is currently making his first state visit to Britain.
(Source: Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe)
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos addresses the General Assembly at the United Nations on September 21, 2016 in New York City. Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers are gathering this week for the United Nation's General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting.
(Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America)
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Timoleon Jimenez, aka "Timochenko" (R), head of the FARC leftist guerrilla, shake hands accompanied by Cuban President Raul Castro (C) during the signing of the peace agreement in Havana on June 23, 2016. Colombia's government and the FARC guerrilla force signed a definitive ceasefire Thursday, taking one of the last crucial steps toward ending Latin America's longest civil war.
(June 22, 2016 - Source: AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon walk down the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, October 30, 2017.
(Oct. 29, 2017 - Source: AFP)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to the White House for meetings and a joint news conference May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has said it wants to slash foreign aide and Santos will most likely seek a renewal of $450 million dollars from the U.S. that supports the peace accord between the Columbian government at the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).
(May 17, 2017 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
President Donald Trump speaks as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos listens during a joint news conference at the White House May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has said it wants to slash foreign aide and Santos will most likely seek a renewal of $450 million dollars from the U.S. that supports the peace accord between the Columbian government at the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).
(May 17, 2017 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Juan Manuel Santos speaks onstage during WE Day UN 2018 at Barclays Center on September 26, 2018 in New York City.
(Source: Getty Images North America)
Juan 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-42z 139.
Juan Manuel Santos, in full Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, is a Colombian politician who cofounded the Social Party of National Unity. From 2010 to 2018, he was the President of Colombia.
Background
Santos was born on August 10, 1951, in Bogotá, Colombia. He is the son of Enrique Santos Castillo and his wife Clemencia Calderón Nieto, his brothers are: Enrique, Luis Fernando, and Felipe. 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, 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.
Education
Santos attended Colegio San Carlos, a private secondary school in Bogotá, where he spent 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-42z 139.
After leaving the Navy, Santos moved to the United States where he attended the University of Kansas. A member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, he graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor in Economics and Business Administration. On 31 October 2017, Santos received an honorary doctorate of human letters from KU.
Santos attended the London School of Economics, graduating with a Master of Science in Economic Development in 1975. He then attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, graduating with a Master of Public Administration in 1981.
A Fulbright visiting fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1981, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1988, Santos also holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
After graduating from the University of Kansas, Santos served as Chief Executive of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia to the International Coffee Organization in London. He returned to Colombia to become Deputy Director of his family owned newspaper El Tiempo. Santos served as a member and Vice Chair of the Washington-based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue and was president of the Freedom of Expression Commission for the Inter American Press Association.
In 1991 Santos became minister of foreign trade under Pres. César Gaviria Trujillo. Two years later he was appointed designee to the presidency, a position that was later folded into the office of vice president. In 1994 Santos was part of a team of negotiators who attempted to reach a peace agreement with the FARC, which had been active in Colombia since the 1960s. He was a leader of the Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano) in the late 1990s, and from 2000 to 2002 he served as minister of the treasury and public credit in the cabinet of Pres. Andrés Pastrana.
In 2005 Santos helped found the Social Party of National Unity, a coalition of lawmakers and officials from various parties who supported President Uribe’s agenda, which included austerity measures and strong antiterrorism laws. Santos joined Uribe’s cabinet as defense minister in 2006, and he escalated the government military campaign against the FARC. A controversial strike in Ecuadoran territory in March 2008 killed a senior FARC leader and a number of his subordinates, causing a diplomatic rift with Colombia’s western neighbour. Four months later Santos supervised Operation Checkmate, an intelligence operation that led to the dramatic rescue of 15 hostages held by the FARC, including Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. Those two events, along with the death by heart attack of FARC founder Manuel Marulanda Vélez in March 2008, dealt a devastating blow to the rebel movement. Later that year, however, Santos faced controversy when it was revealed that paramilitary, police, and army units had killed hundreds of civilians and disguised them as rebels to inflate body counts during antiguerrilla campaigns. Santos sacked dozens of officers over the matter, but human rights groups criticized the government’s delay in bringing those responsible to trial.
Santos resigned his cabinet post in 2009 to run for the presidency. His promise to continue the policies of Uribe, who was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, proved popular with voters. Santos received 47 percent of the ballots in the first round of polling in May 2010, and in the second round, held on June 20, he secured 69 percent of the vote in a landslide victory. Santos took office on August 7, 2010.
Despite the perception of many Colombians early in Santos’s term that their economic welfare and security were deteriorating, the country’s GDP grew by an average of more than 4 percent from 2009 to 2013 while unemployment and inflation generally shrank. Yet the most-notable accomplishment of Santos’s administration was its success in bringing the FARC to the bargaining table. For the third time in Colombian history, the government initiated direct peace negotiations, which began in 2012 in Oslo and continued in Havana. The start of those talks led Santos’s popularity to spike to roughly 60 percent approval.
As the talks continued into 2013 without a bilateral cease-fire, however, they continued to come under heavy criticism from conservative sectors of Colombian society, including former president Uribe. Popular support wavered as some of the major points of disagreement became public knowledge, including the potential for political participation by current members of the guerrillas, the possibility of rewriting the constitution, an eventual popular referendum on the peace agreement, and the amnesty that could be granted to guerrillas. The talks were at the centre of the 2014 presidential election, which Santos won in a June runoff, capturing some 51 percent of the vote to defeat rightist Oscar Ivan Zuluaga.
Meanwhile, the talks yielded agreements on three of the five major points on the agenda set by the negotiating parties, but the talks were suspended by the government in mid-November when a high-ranking army officer was kidnapped (along with two other people) by the guerrilla group. Talks immediately resumed when the FARC released him some two weeks later. On December 20 the FARC initiated a unilateral cease-fire that was still holding in mid-January 2015 when Santos surprised many observers by directing negotiators in Havana to open discussions regarding a bilateral cease-fire (which he had previously refused to consider until a final agreement had been reached).
The first two-thirds of 2015 brought a disruption of that cease-fire, along with the initiation of another cease-fire by the FARC—which was greeted by the government scaling back its military efforts—and, on September 23, a meeting in Havana between Santos and FARC representatives at which it was announced that they had agreed to reach a final peace accord within six months.
Only two days earlier, meeting in Ecuador, Santos and Venezuelan Pres. Nicolás Maduro had begun the normalization of relations between their two countries, which had begun deteriorating in mid-August when Venezuela closed its border with Colombia. The Venezuelan government also had deported some 1,500 Colombians whom it accused of involvement in the smuggling of subsidized Venezuelan goods into Colombia for sale.
Although the final peace treaty between the government and the FARC had not been consummated by the agreed-upon deadline, on June 23, 2016, Santos was back in Havana, this time joining the FARC’s leader, Rodrigo Londoño (“Timoleón Jiménez” or “Timochenko”), to sign a permanent cease-fire agreement. The agreement specified that FARC fighters would turn in their weapons under UN monitoring within 180 days of the final treaty’s signing. Meanwhile, Uribe stepped up his hawkish criticism of Santos’s efforts, and the president’s approval ratings tumbled, at least partly in response to the protracted nature of the peace negotiations. Nevertheless, Santos scored a victory when the country’s constitutional court ruled that the final agreement could be put to the Colombian people for their approval in a referendum.
With all of the lingering details worked out, on September 26 in Cartagena, Santos and Londoño signed a historic final peace agreement. Opinion polling indicated solid popular support for the agreement, but when Colombians voted on the referendum on October 2, they narrowly rejected the agreement (50.21 percent of those who voted opposed the agreement, while 49.78 percent approved it). Generally, those who voted “no” indicated that they felt the agreement was too lenient on the FARC rebels, most of whom would be granted amnesty, whereas FARC leaders were to come before transitional justice tribunals that would have the option of sentencing the convicted to community service or confinement in rehabilitation zones rather than prison. Despite the devastating setback, both the government and the FARC announced that they would continue to honour the cease-fire that was already in place.
The defeat of the referendum was a major blow to Santos, who had largely staked his presidency on brokering the peace agreement. After having been discussed as a possible candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, Santos suddenly appeared to be politically vulnerable as the 2018 presidential election loomed. Bowed but determined, he promised to convene all interested political parties, especially those who opposed the agreement, to try to move toward a resolution. He also dispatched a negotiator to Havana to resume talks there with Londoño. Hopes for the negotiations and a peaceful future were buoyed less than a week later when, despite the failure of the referendum, the Nobel committee surprisingly awarded Santos the Peace Prize for his efforts to end the war.
In late November the House of Representatives and the Senate (both of which were dominated by Santos’s ruling coalition) ratified a renegotiated accord that included many changes that had been demanded by opposition leaders. Nevertheless, the new agreement was denounced by the opposition, which had not been allowed to review the revised accord and which took exception to its failure to include some key opposition proposals. By early 2017, however, FARC guerrillas had begun concentrating in the transition zones in which they were to turn over their weapons to United Nations monitors.
On August 15, 2017, the FARC relinquished the last of its accessible weapons (some 900 weapons remained in caches in remote areas) to UN representatives. In declaring an official end to Colombia’s conflict with the FARC, Santos said at a ceremony in Fonseca, “Now we can develop parts of the country we were never able to develop before.” The legacy of the peace agreement was threatened, however, when Uribe’s handpicked candidate, Iván Duque, was elected as Santos’s successor in the 2018 presidential election.
From an early age, Santos moved in political circles, allowing him to master his famous ability to strategize and outsmart the acutest of opponents. Santos is responsible for signing Colombia´s first free trade agreements – with Mexico and Venezuela – a trade philosophy he has placed at the heart of his own government´s foreign policy.
Santos experienced first-hand the ill-fated Pastrana / FARC peace talks in Caguán, when sent by the international community to oversee the implementation of the Demilitarized Zone the talks had created. Santos lost faith in the mission and became a harsh critic of the Pastrana government until he was appointed Minister of Finance in 2000.
When his future boss, Álvaro Uribe came to power Santos was still a member of the Liberals. But by 2005, he had formed the U Party to support the reelection of Uribe.
Santos emerged as Uribe´s chosen candidate and ran for the presidency on the U Party platform.
As soon as Santos entered power, he changed the mantra from Democratic Security to Democratic Prosperity, continuing the military attacks on the guerrillas, but also placing economic growth at the heart of his government. A national unity government was formed, and over 90% of the Congress was placed at the new president´s disposition. Santos was, in parliamentary terms, even more powerful than Uribe had been. The first two years of Santos´ rule were characterized by legislative hyperactivity, with major reforms pushed through Congress. Santos has presided over continued economic growth, reduced poverty and unemployment and dramatically changed diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries.
Views
During a Google hangout hosted by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo on 20 May 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.
Quotations:
"I am infinitely grateful for this honorable distinction with all my heart."
"I accept it not on my behalf but on behalf of all Colombians, especially the millions of victims of this conflict which we have suffered for more than 50 years."
"It is for the victims and so that there not be a single new victim, not a single new casualty, that we must reconcile and unite to culminate this process and begin to construct a stable and durable peace."
Membership
Santos was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Delta Upsilon fraternity
Personality
Juan Manuel Santos owns a restaurant chain, the "Fat Santos Burger".
Physical Characteristics:
Height - 172 cm (1.72 m)
Weight - 69 kg (152 lbs)
Eye color - Hazel
Hair color - Brown
Interests
Politicians
Álvaro Uribe
Sport & Clubs
The famous politician owns a football team called the Bogotá Angels.
Connections
Santos first married Silvia Amaya Londoño, a film director and television presenter, but divorced three years later having no children together. 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. Together they had three children, Martín (born 1989), María Antonia (born 1991), and Esteban (born 1993).