Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno (born December 22, 1972) is a Colombian diplomat, politician and economist. He is the current Ambassador of Colombia to the United States and former Minister of Defence. Pinzon comes from a military family, his father was a Colonel in the Colombian Army.

Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno
Ambassador of Colombia to the United States
In office
August 3, 2015 – May 19, 2017
PresidentJuan Manuel Santos
Preceded byLuis Carlos Villegas
Succeeded byCamilo Reyes Rodríguez
Minister of National Defence
In office
September 5, 2011 – June 22, 2015
PresidentJuan Manuel Santos
Preceded byRodrigo Rivera Salazar
Succeeded byLuis Carlos Villegas
Director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of Colombia
In office
August 7, 2010 – September 5, 2011
PresidentJuan Manuel Santos
Preceded byBernardo Moreno Villegas
Succeeded byFederico Renjifo Vélez
Personal details
Born
Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno

(1972-12-22) December 22, 1972 (age 51)
Bogotá, Colombia
SpousePilar Lozano
Alma materPontifical Xavierian University
(BA, 1996; MSc, 1999)
Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton
(MPP, 2010)
ProfessionEconomist
Signature

Minister of Defence

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Pinzón with Canadian Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay (left) and US Senator John McCain at the Halifax International Security Forum in 2012

Pinzón received honourable mention for his outstanding academic performance as BSC in economics. He holds a Master’s of Science in Economics from the Pontifical Xavierian University, where In addition, he was awarded a scholarship for his Master’s in Public Policy at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Pinzón also completed his advanced studies in international relations and strategic studies at The Johns Hopkins University, and in science and technology policy at Harvard University.

As part of his public service, Pinzón served as the Deputy Minister of Defence. In 2010, President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón appointed him as Presidential Chief of Staff. His public and private tenure also includes positions such as, Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank, Vice President of the Colombian Banking Association, Assistant Vice President of Investment Banking at Citigroup, private Secretary and Chief of Staff for the Finance and Public Credit Ministry, and as an Economist for Colombia at Citigroup. The World Economic Forum selected him a Young Global Leader in 2011.

Pinzón has remained an active member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies since 2000. In the early 2000s, he participated in the UNDP Expert Council’s efforts to design a democratic security agenda for Colombia. While with the Ministry of Finance, he was responsible for the coordination of the Defence Ministry budget by special request of the Minister.

Pinzón taught economics at the Pontifical Xavierian University and the Universidad de Los Andes. He has also published several articles in recognised academic magazines and newspapers on financial markets, macroeconomic policy and financial policy.

2018 Colombian Presidential Election

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On May 19, 2017, Juan Carlos Pinzón declared his candidacy to become Colombia's next president in the 2018 elections.[1] Pinzón has made his criticisms of the Colombian Peace Process a key element of his campaign, claiming that the FARC guerrilla group has not completely disarmed and that the amnesty program within the peace agreements are unfair to the country's victims.[2] Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has rejected the criticism and attacked Pinzón personally, frankly stating that the struggle for power brings out the worst in human nature.[3]


Pinzón built a citizen movement called 'Ante Todo Colombia' to collect signatures so he could launch his presidential campaign and after getting more than half a million signatures, he became a Presidential candidate. A month later, he became the Vice President candidate for Germán Vargas Lleras, thus withdrawing his own campaign.

Personal life

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Pinzón was born on December 22, 1971[4][5] in Bogotá[6] to Coronel Rafael Pinzón Rincón and Marlene Bueno.[7] He is married to María del Pilar Lozano.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Colombia's 2018 Presidential Election: Candidate Overview". Colombia Focus. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Críticas de Pinzón a la paz lo alejan de coaliciones para 2018". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). 27 June 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Pinzón and Santos continue to trade barbs as Colombian 2018 Presidential race heats up". Colombia Focus. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  4. ^ Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel (5 September 2011). "Palabras del Presidente Juan Manuel Santos durante la posesión de Juan Carlos Pinzón como Ministro de Defensa" (in Spanish). Bogotá: Colombia, Office of the President (SIG). Su padre, el coronel Pinzón, su madre, Marleny, deben estar muy orgullosos...Usted y su señora nacieron en el Hospital Militar...
  5. ^ "Perfil: Juan Carlos Pinzón Ministro de Defensa" [Profile: Juan Carlos Pinzón, Minister of Defence] (in Spanish). La Silla Vacía. Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno". La Silla Vacía (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. ^ Pinzón Bueno, Juan Carlos (5 September 2011). "Discurso del Ministro de Defensa Juan Carlos Pinzón en la Ceremonia de Posesión y Reconocimiento de Tropas" [Speech of the Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzón at the Troops' Swearing and Recognition Ceremony] (PDF) (Speech) (in Spanish). Bogotá: Ministry of National Defence. p. 1. Retrieved 11 September 2011. Mi padre Coronel Pinzón Rico , mi Madre Marleny , Maria del Pilar, Natalia, Juan Pablo...
  8. ^ Gutiérrez Zapata, Ricardo (29 June 2010). "La disciplina de Juan C. Pinzón" [The Discipline of Juan C Pinzón]. El Espectador (in Spanish). Bogotá. Retrieved 11 September 2011. Hace 13 años se casó con María del Pilar Lozano, a quien conoció por ser amiga de su hermana. Son padres de dos hijos: Natalia, de 12 años, y Juan Pablo, de 5.
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