Iván Duque Márquez
Ivan Duque was sworn in 08 August 2018 as the country's 60th president, amid concern over the influence he will have on the country's peace process. More than 12,000 police were deployed in the historic center of the capital Bogota for Duque's inauguration. Duque, a 42-year-old former senator, defeated left-leaning candidate, Gustavo Petro, in a presidential runoff in June with 54 percent of the vote. As the youngest president in Colombia's recent history, Duque is expected to appoint a cabinet consisting largely of little-known technocrats, with the same number of women and men. Duque is seen as having a positive relationship with the United States. After his victory, he said he welcomed US President Donald Trump's agenda for a "head-on fight against drug trafficking."
During the campaign, Duque promised to crack down on crime and armed groups, lower taxes for businesses, and fight corruption. He is widely seen as a protege of former President Alvaro Uribe, a fierce opponent of the peace deal with the country's FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebel group, now a political party known as the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force. He has criticised aspects of Santos' 2016 peace deal with FARC, raising concern that he might undermine the peace process and prompt many former rebel members to join other armed groups.
Since Duque took office on August 7, 2018, six months were spent in trying to modify the conditions established in the Peace Accords signed with the former FARC guerrilla in 2016, especially regarding the Special Justice of the Peace, an area created to judge the crimes committed in the framework of the armed conflict.
The peace accord allowed for the most non-violent presidential election in Colombian history and due to Duque's neglect of the accord, we are seeing a rising tide of electoral violence and death threats in these regional elections. Threats and intimidation have become common in this town and region, but the situation has spiralled nationwide since campaigning began on 27 June 2019. This poll was the first of its kind at the local level since the signing of the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Such local and regional elections have traditionally seen high levels of violence, and this year proves to be no different.
Iván Duque Márquez was born into a well-off, politically connected family from the capital, Bogotá, on August 1, 1976. His parents are Iván Duque Escobar, who was governor of Antioquia province, and Juliana Márquez Ringtone. He is a lawyer from Sergio Arboleda University, with major studies in philosophy and humanities. Expert in economic matters, with executive studies at Harvard, and with master's degrees from Georgetown, in Public Policy Management, and from American University, in Economic Law.
He has worked as a columnist and teacher. He was head of the Culture, Creativity and Solidarity division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), leading issues of social innovation, entrepreneurship, youth and creative economy. He was a consultant to the IDB presidency and principal advisor for Colombia.
As Senator, he brought forward five laws of the Republic: the Orange Law, which drives creative industries and culture as an engine of development; the Law on severance, which allows the use of severance to prepay the education of children and dependents; the Defibrillator Law, which requires the installation of resuscitators in public places and in emergency transport in Colombia; the Law of 'Companies B', which provides the conditions to create and develop the Commercial Companies of Benefit and Collective Interest, and is co-author of the Law that extended the maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks.
He is the author of IndignAcción books, ideas for the Colombia of the Future; Monetary Sins; Machiavelli in Colombia; Orange Effect; The Future Is in the Center; Archeology of my Father; and he is co-author, along with Felipe Buitrago, of the book The Orange Economy.
Iván Duque, in addition to his legislative activity, has excelled in several areas of the country's political news. It was who wrote, presented and defended the lawsuit against the Legislative Act for Peace, before the Constitutional Court, which limited the fast track and allowed Congress to make changes in the implementation of the agreements with the FARC. In 2016 he was chosen as one of the most prominent leaders in the country by Semana Magazine and the Colombia Líder Foundation, and during his three years as a congressman he was elected as the best Senator by his own colleagues and by several local organizations that stand out and measure the Work of Colombian legislators.
President Duque is married to Mrs. María Juliana Ruiz, with whom he has three children: Luciana, Matías and Eloísa. On June 17, 2018, Iván Duque was elected President of Colombia for the constitutional period 2018 - 2022, with 10'398.689 votes, with a government program based on Legality, Entrepreneurship and Equity.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through the dense city streets of Bogota and other cities across Colombia on 21 November 2019 as the country joined a wave of others in South America experiencing anti-government demonstrations. Protesters sent out a unified cry against the right-wing administration of President Ivan Duque, whose approval ratings have plummeted amid an uptick in violence, a flailing peace process and general unrest country-wide. Demonstrations, energised by recent examples in Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia, brought the president and his ruling party to by far their weakest point of his 15 months in office. Previously many sectors were a little asleep or were marching independently. In this strike all groups and civil groups met, with a lot of welcome from people who usually do not march.
A November 2019 survey highlighted that 79 percent of respondents believe that the situation in the country is getting worse and only 11 percent feel optimistic about the government measures. The disapproval towards the government of Colombian President, Ivan Duque, had reached 70 percent, a survey from the Invamer group read on Wednesday. The survey, made at the end of November, highlighted that 79 percent of respondents believe that the situation in the country is getting worse and only 11 percent feel optimistic about the way the government has handle the crises inside the South American nation.
The Duque administration is also not saved in terms of handling international relations since 49 percent believe that it is getting worse and only 30 percent believe it is on track. Against the issues that most concern Colombians, 88 percent pointed to citizen insecurity, followed by corruption with 84 percent and the economy with 78 percent. The national strike that has been carried out by workers' centrals and various social sectors in the country since November 21, on which an agreement for its termination is not glimpsed for now, had a decisive influence on this study, given the zero governmental capacity to meet the demands popular. Further adding to the problems in Colombia has been Duque's crackdown against former FARC members, with many being killed by forces loyal to the president.
Union leaders, students and other social activists went out to protest against the Government of Iván Duque in all the cities of the country. The call for the third national strike occurs after a meeting between the National Committee of the Unemployment and the Government of Duque, which ended without progress. The main demands were directed at attempts to reduce the minimum wage for young workers and reduce the pension system , as well as fulfill commitments made with students to improve the financing of public universities, and with indigenous and peasant farmers. Protesters also demand that the peace agreement signed in 2016 be implemented and that the killings of social leaders and demobilized people be terminated, as well as military operations in which innocent civilian deaths are killed.
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