President of Colombia (Juan Manuel Santos) - winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016

In 2016, the President of Colombia was awarded a world award. This was due to his activities for ending the Civil War in the state, which lasted more than fifty years. He was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in the autumn.

General information about the country

The state is located in South America, in its north-western part. It is known that the first people lived on the territory of the country in the fifteenth century BC. These were tribes of hunter-gatherers.

At the beginning of our era here lived the Indians. Since the sixteenth century, the colonization of the continent by the Spanish began. The colonial period lasted until 1818, when Simon Bolivar proclaimed the independence of Great Colombia.

A state was formed under the name of New Granada. It existed until 1886, when Colombian President Rafael Moledo signed the constitution. The document consolidated centralized management, and the country was renamed the Republic of Colombia.

The modern state

Today's country is called the Republic of Colombia. It is often referred to as the "Gateway to South America", as its shores are washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The capital is the city of Bogota. It is home to more than eleven million people, including the President of Colombia.

Since 1964 in the country there is a civil war. A lot of military groups were formed, who fought the official power for their ideas. Today, some of the armed formations have ceased to exist, but there are also those who are at war with each other.

Politic system

The head of state, like the government, is the President of Colombia. He is elected for four years with possible reelection for a second term.

The government consists of a bicameral parliament (Congress):

• The Senate - it includes 102 senators, elected for four years.
• The House of Representatives - includes 166 deputies, the population elects them for four years.

Presidents of the Republic

For its existence, the state was ruled by many leaders. Presidents of Colombia (the list consists of more than fifty representatives) often ruled several terms, but not in a row, but after a while.

The list of presidents who headed the state more than once:

• Rafael Nunez Moledo.
• Miguel Antonio.
• Rafael Reyes Prieto.
• Alfonso López Pumarejo.
• Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
• Alberto Camargo.
• Guillermo Leon Valencia.
• Misael Pastrana Borrero.
• Alfonso Lopez Mikelsen.
• Julio Cesar Ayala.
• Ernesto Samper Pisano.
• Juan Manuel Santos.

Who is the first president of Colombia? If counted from the beginning of the proclamation of the republic, the post of president was occupied by Rafael Nunez Moledo. He is a conservative politician, journalist, lawyer, writer. He is known for having become the author of the words for the hymn of Colombia.

Nunez was born on September 25, 1825 in Colombia. He served as a district judge in Panama, in 1848 founded his own newspaper and engaged in political activities. He held various positions and posts, was Minister of Finance, diplomat, consul in Liverpool.

Nunez participated in the elections in 1878, but did not win. He took the post of president in 1880. It was with him that coffee became the main export product of the country, replacing tobacco, which lost popularity in Europe due to poor quality.

The second time Moledo became president in 1884. It was he who wrote many articles that were related to the constitutional reform. After he was re-elected twice more: in 1887 and in 1892. Nunez died on 18.09.1894.

Today's President of the State

Born Juan Manuel Santos on August 10, 1951 in Bogota. His family was engaged in politics for more than one generation. So the brother of the grandfather was at the head of Colombia in the first half of the twentieth century. He, Edward Santos, founded and became the editor of a well-known newspaper. Cousin served as vice-president under Alvare Uribe.

Juan Manuel Santos studied at the University of Kansas and in 1973 became a bachelor of economics. Two years later, he was awarded a master's degree at the London School of Economics. In 1981, he completed a master's program at the Kennedy School of Government, which operated at Harvard University.

For his life, Santos was married twice. His first companion was the director and presenter of the television Sylvia Amaya Londoño. They lived together from 1987 to 1989. The second elected was the industrial designer Maria Rodriguez Muner. In the marriage they had two sons (Martin and Esteban) and daughter Maria Antonia.

Political career:

• Minister of Foreign Trade;
• Minister of Finance;
• Minister of Defense.

Since 2010, Santos began his struggle for the presidency, becoming a presidential candidate. In the first round, his main rival was Antanas Mokkusa. To win Santos lacked four percent of the vote - he received 46.5%. In the second round, 69.06% of voters voted for the current president.

In 2014, he was re-elected for a second term. He will be at the head of the state until 2018.

In 2016, the president managed to end the Civil War, which lasted since 1991. He signed a peace agreement with the main partisan group. But many people think this world is very shaky. How long it will last, no one knows.

The President was awarded a premium in advance. Many believe that he will do everything possible to preserve peace in the country.