| Juan Manuel Santos AKA Juan Manuel Santos Calderon Born: 10-Aug-1951
Birthplace: Bogota, Colombia
Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Head of State, Politician Nationality: Colombia
Executive summary: President of Colombia Military service: Colombia Navy (1969-71) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos comes from arguably his nation's most powerful family, which owned a controlling interest in the national newspaper El Tiempo and more than a dozen smaller papers until 2007. His cousin, Francisco Santos, was Vice President of Colombia under the preceding administration of Alvaro Uribe, and his great-uncle, Eduardo Santos (1888-1974), was President of Colombia from 1938 to 1942 and sole owner of El Tiempo during his lifetime.
As Uribe's Minister of Defense, Santos took a firm hand in the conflict with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and planned the 2008 Operation Jaque, a Colombian military operation that freed 15 hostages held by FARC. Though widely viewed as a heroic endeavor that cemented Santos' popularity, the rescue was criticized for using military operatives cloaked in garb that falsely identified them as International Red Cross workers — a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
When Uribe was forced from the Presidency by term limits in 2010, Santos won 69 percent of the vote in that year's elections to become Colombia's 59th President. In a region where several national leaders take pride in presenting themselves as hostile to American interests, Wall Street and Foggy Bottom have embraced the relatively conservative Santos as an ally. His term as President ends in August 2014, but he is eligible and is expected to run for re-election.
[1] Social Party of National Unity (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional)
Father: Enrique Santos Castillo (Publisher of El Tiempo, b. 1917, d. 2001)
Mother: Clemencia Calderon (b. 1922, d. 2000)
Brother: Enrique Santos Calderon (El Tiempo executive)
Wife: Maria Clemencia Rodriguez ("Tutina")
Son: Martin Santos (b. circa 1989)
Daughter: Maria Antonia Santos (b. circa 1991)
Son: Esteban Santos (b. circa 1994)
High School: Colegio San Carlos, Bogata, Colombia (attended)
High School: Naval Academy of Cartagena (1969)
University: BA Economics and Business Administration, University of Kansas (1973)
University: MS Economic Development, London School of Economics (1975)
University: MS Public Administration, Harvard University (1981)
Law School: Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (attended)
President of Colombia (7-Aug-2010 to present)
Colombian Official Minister of National Defense (2006-09)
Colombian Official Minister of Finance (2001-02)
UN Official President, U.N. Econ Comm. for Latin America, Caribbean (1999-2001)
UN Official President, U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (1992-96)
Colombian Official Minister of Foreign Trade (1991-92)
El Tiempo President (1983-91)
El Tiempo Sub-Director and Columnist (1981-83)
National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia Economic Advisor (1972-81)
Member of the Board of Corporación Andina de Fomento (2001-02)
Good Government Foundation Founder (1994)
Prostate Surgery (Oct-2012)
Audience with the Pope Pope Francis (27-Feb-2016)
Risk Factors: Prostate Cancer
Author of books:
El Nuevo Camino al Progreso (The New Path to Progress) (1994)
Colombia sin fronteras (Colombia without Borders) (1994)
La Tercera vía: Una Alternativa para Colombia (Third Way: An Alternative for Colombia) (1999)
Jaque al Terror: Los años Horribles de las FARC (Against Terror: The Horrible Years of the FARC) (2009)
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