The Universidad Externado de Colombia is a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. It has produced graduates including lawyers, academics, judges, financiers, journalists, as well as senior government officials and politicians. The institution grants 4 and 5-year professional degrees, as well as advanced Master and Doctoral degrees. Instruction is primarily in Spanish.
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego is a Colombian politician and former guerrilla who is the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration, he became the first left-wing president in the recent history of Colombia.
The Ministry of National Education is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for overseeing the instruction and education of the Colombian people, similar to education ministries in other countries.
Gina María Parody d'Echeona is a Colombian politician. Born in Bogotá in 1973, Parody graduated as a lawyer from Pontifical Xavierian University and became a politician. She has served as Director of the National Learning Service (SENA), as a Senator, as member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, and most recently as Minister of Education.
Marta Lucía Ramírez Blanco is a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as 12th Vice President of Colombia from 2018 to 2022. She also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. In 2018, Ramírez became the first woman elected to serve as Vice President of Colombia, running on a ticket with Iván Duque. In 2021, after the resignation of her predecessor Claudia Blum, she was pronounced chancellor by the president Iván Duque.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, the second round of voting was held on 17 June. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duque, a senator, defeated Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogotá, in the second round. Duque's victory made him one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency, aged 42. His running mate, Marta Lucía Ramírez, was the first woman elected to the vice presidency in Colombian history.
Francia Elena Márquez Mina is a Colombian human-rights and environmental activist and lawyer, who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia. She was born in Yolombó, a village in the Suarez municipality in Cauca Department. She first became an activist at 13, when construction of a dam threatened her community. On taking office, she became the first Afro-Colombian vice president in the country's history. She is also the second woman to hold the post, after Marta Lucía Ramírez. In August 2020, Márquez announced her candidacy in the 2022 Colombian presidential election and sought the nomination for the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition. She was later chosen by the coalition's nominee, Gustavo Petro, to be his running mate. In 2023 she was also appointed as Minister for Equality and Equity.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 29 May 2022, with a runoff on 19 June 2022 as no candidate obtained at least 50% in the first round of voting. Iván Duque, who was elected president in 2018, was ineligible to run due to term limits. Gustavo Petro, a senator, former Mayor of Bogota, and runner-up in the 2018 election, defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, former mayor of Bucaramanga, in the runoff election. Petro's victory made him the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia, and his running mate, Francia Márquez, is the first Afro-Colombian elected to the vice-presidency, as well as the second female vice-president overall.
Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García is a Colombian philanthropist and the current First Lady of Colombia since 2022, as the third wife of President Gustavo Petro.
Gustavo Petro assumed office as President of Colombia on August 7, 2022. The President has the power to nominate members of his Cabinet at his own discretion, in accordance with the Constitution of Colombia.
Néstor Iván Osuna Patiño is a Colombian lawyer, magistrate and university professor. Since August 17, 2022, he is the current Minister of Justice.
Irene Vélez Torres is a Colombian philosopher and doctor in political geography. Since June 2024 she is the Colombian Cónsul General and Head of Mission in London, UK.From August 11, 2022 to July 19, 2023, she held the position of Minister of Mines and Energy.
Gloria Inés Ramírez Rios is a Colombian politician, teacher and trade unionist, member of the Colombian Communist Party. Since 11 August 2022, she has held the position of Minister of Labour of her country, in the government of Gustavo Petro.
María Susana Muhamad González is a Colombian political scientist, environmentalist and politician belonging to the Humane Colombia party. Since August 7, 2022, she has held the position of Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of her country, in the government of Gustavo Petro.
Sandra Milena Urrutia Pérez is a Colombian lawyer specializing in telecommunications and administrative law from 2022 to 2023 as the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies.
The 2018 presidential campaign of Gustavo Petro in 2018, Gustavo Petro was again a presidential candidate, this time getting the second best result in voting counting in the first round on 27 May, and advanced to the second round. His campaign was run by publicists Ángel Beccassino, Alberto Cienfuegos and Luis Fernando Pardo. A lawsuit was filed by citizens against Iván Duque, Petro's right-wing opponent, alleging bribery and fraud. The news chain Wradio made the lawsuit public on 11 July, which was presented to the CNE. The state of the lawsuit will be defined by the Magistrado Alberto Yepes.
Aurora Vergara Figueroa is a Colombian sociologist and academic who has been a tenured professor in the Department of Social Studies at the Icesi University and director of the Center for Afrodiasporic Studies.
Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía is a Colombian doctor, psychiatrist and political scientist. having served as Minister of Health and Social Protection from August 7, 2022 to April 26, 2023.
Gustavo Petro, the 34th and current president of Colombia, has family members who are prominent in education, activism and politics. Petro's immediate family became the first family of Colombia on his inauguration on August 7, 2022. His immediate family circle was also the first family of Bogotá from 2012 to 2016, when Petro was mayor of Bogotá. Petro's family descends primarily from the city of Verona, and most of his ancestors come from Spain and southern Italy.
