Tag: Juan Manuel Santos

• Friday, August 24th 2012 - 05:15 UTC

  Colombia changes Finance minister but confirms open-economy business friendly policy

  

  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos moved Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas to head the finance post on Thursday in a surprise move. At the midpoint of his four-year term, Santos asked all 16 ministers to resign, including Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry, and set the stage for a cabinet shuffle aimed at shoring up his slumping approval ratings.

• Friday, June 15th 2012 - 06:17 UTC

  Colombia passes law that could pave the way for peace talks with guerrillas

  

  Colombia's Congress on Thursday passed a law that could pave the way for peace talks with Marxist oriented guerrillas, raising hopes for an end to the war, but drawing criticism from human rights groups that say the law is too lenient toward rebel leaders.

• Wednesday, May 16th 2012 - 01:15 UTC

  Colombia/US free trade agreement expected to create 100.000 jobs per year

  

  The long-delayed free-trade deal between Colombia and the United States came into force on Tuesday, a step that should boost the country’s exports and foreign investment, President Juan Manuel Santos said.

• Wednesday, May 16th 2012 - 00:59 UTC

  Deadly attack against former minister in the heart of Bogotá kills 2, injures dozens

  

  A bomb targeting a hard-line former Colombian interior minister killed two of his bodyguards and injured at least 31 others in the heart of Bogotá’s uptown commercial district Tuesday, authorities said.

• Thursday, April 19th 2012 - 21:21 UTC

  “President Rajoy, in Colombia we don’t expropriate, we welcome foreign investment”

  

  Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos welcomed Spanish corporations and guaranteed his visiting Spanish peer Mariano Rajoy that in Colombia there will be no surprises because the country follows the rules of the game: “President Rajoy: here we don’t expropriate”.

• Tuesday, April 17th 2012 - 03:07 UTC

  Colombia reaps from the summit: free trade agreement with US becomes effective in May

  

  The US-Colombia free trade agreement will enter into force next month, far earlier than expected, as a result of what the Obama administration called “historic” progress for Colombian worker protections and human rights.

• Wednesday, April 4th 2012 - 08:37 UTC

  Colombian president calls on FARC to free the estimated 400 civilian hostages

  

  Ten government hostages (four soldiers and six policemen) held by a rebel group in Colombia for more than a decade were freed on Monday with great expectations but also skepticism because it is believed the same organization still has 400 civilian hostages.

• Tuesday, March 20th 2012 - 00:24 UTC

  Colombia tells Bolivia it deserves to have access to the Pacific Ocean

  

  Colombia has consistently supported Bolivia in its mission to reclaim a passage to the Pacific Ocean and the country reiterated its support last week during a meeting between the two heads of state in Bogotá.

• Friday, March 9th 2012 - 03:22 UTC

  Under pressure from Washington Cuba left out of hemispheric summit

  

  Cuba said it was “unacceptable” that it will not be invited to an upcoming hemispheric summit in Colombia and blamed the United States for insisting that Cuba be excluded.

• Thursday, March 8th 2012 - 06:21 UTC

  Chavez will return home from Cuba next week, says Colombian president

  

  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Venezuela's Hugo Chávez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumour.