María Ángela Holguín

María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar
Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 August 2010
President	Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Preceded by	Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde
25th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations
In office 16 September 2004 – 11 September 2006
President	Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Preceded by	Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento
Succeeded by	Claudia Blum Capurro
Colombia Ambassador to Venezuela
In office 16 September 2002 – 20 August 2004
President	Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Preceded by	Germán Bula Escobar
Succeeded by	Enrique Vargas Ramírez
Personal details
Born	13 November 1963 (1963-11-13) (age 48)
Nationality	Colombian
Spouse(s)	Santiago Jiménez Mejía (1983-1990)
Domestic partner	Carlos Espinosa Pérez
Children	Antonio Espinosa Holguín
Alma mater	University of the Andes
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Holguín and the second or maternal family name is Cuéllar.

María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar (born 13 November 1963) is a Colombian political scientist and career diplomat currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. She also served as the 25th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and Colombia Ambassador to Venezuela during President Álvaro Uribe Vélez's first term.

Background

María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar was born on November 13, 1963 to Julio Holguín Umaña and Lucila Cuéllar Calderón.^[1] The Holguíns come from an old well established political family in the history of Colombia, most notably they are descendants of Carlos and Jorge Holguín, Presidents of Colombia from 1888–1892 and 1921-1922 respectively, and are related to a number of other Presidents and key political figures throughout the history of Colombia to present time. She married Santiago Jiménez Mejía on August 27, 1983 but later divorced having no children. She later met Carlos Espinosa Pérez with whom she had a son, Antonio, on January 23, 1991

She studied at the Gimnasio Femenino school in Bogota, French at the Université Paris X, and graduated from the University of the Andes in 1988 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science where she also completed a specialization in Public Management and Administrative Institutions in 1992.

Diplomatic career

In 2010, while serving as Colombia Representative to the Andean Development Corporation in Buenos Aires, the newly president-elect Juan Manuel Santos Calderón nominated Holguín to head the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her nomination to the Chancellery was hailed as a wise political move given the diplomatic problems in the region following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis; Holguín's Ambassadorship in Venezuela was overall seen as the tacit endorsement that enabled her to tackle the diplomatic détente between the sister nations, while her work with the Andean Development Corporation signalled Santos' desire to strengthen ties with the rest of the continent.

Before having officially taken office, Holguín accompanied president-elect Santos on his first overseas trip after being elected, taking the diplomatic role head on during their meetings with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.^[2] Holguín as Chancellor-designate also headed talks with the Venezuelan Chancellor Nicolás Maduro that spearheaded the renewal of diplomatic ties with the neighbouring nation that were later formalized in a meeting held in Santa Marta between the two Presidents.^[3] Holguín then travelled to Ecuador to meet with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño to convince Quito to renew diplomatic ties and to personally invite President Rafael Correa to attend the inauguration,^[4] a feat she managed having in mind that Ecuador had an arrest warrant for Santos for his action as Minister of National Defence of Colombia.

On August 7, 2010 after Santos was officially sworn in as President of Colombia, Holguín followed suit and was officially sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On June 3, 2011, Holguín declared, following a working meeting in Washington, that Colombia will continue to be the most "pro-United States" country in Latin America, despite pending issues such as the Free-Trade Agreement (FTA).^[5]

References

1. ^ Restrepo Sáenz, José María; Rivas, Raimundo; Restrepo Posada, José (1995) (in Spanish). Genealogías de Santa Fe de Bogotá [Genealogies of Santa Fe de Bogotá] (Genealogy book). IV. Bogotá: Grupo de investigaciones Genealógicas José Maria Restrepo Sáenz. pp. 199–200. OCLC 28546996. 
2. ^ "María Ángela Holguín, La Canciller" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 2010-07-25. http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-4026449. Retrieved 2010-08-11. 
3. ^ Fraval, Germán Duque (2010-07-15). "Autorizó A Su Canciller Para Reunirse Con María Ángela Holguín Chávez ‘Evalúa’ Si Viene A Posesión [Authorized his Chancellor to meet with María Ángela Holguín, Chávez "evaluates" if he will come to inauguration]" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-4054841. Retrieved 2010-08-11. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Mena Erazo, Paúl (2010-07-22). "Correa acudirá a toma de posesión de Santos [Correa will attend inauguration of Santos]" (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2010/07/100721_ecuador_colombia_toma_posesion_santos_correa_fp.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-11. 
5. ^ Colombia Will Continue To Be U.S.’s Best Ally In The Region, Foreign Minister Says

External links

• Profile of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Persondata
Name	Holguín Cuéllar, María Ángela
Alternative names	Holguín, María Ángela
Short description	Diplomat
Date of birth	13 November 1963
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death