An Interview with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia

“I learned something extremely important — that the victims of a war become the best allies for making peace.” -President Juan Manuel Santos

On this episode of The Henna Hundal Show, Henna Hundal interviews Juan Manuel Santos, the 32nd President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. Before being elected president, he served as Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Finance and Public Credit, and Minister of National Defense. In 2016, President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement in a ceasefire treaty with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. At the time that President Santos worked on the peace deal, the guerrilla forces had extended armed conflict in Colombia for 52 years. In this interview, President Santos describes how his early training as a journalist shaped his approach to leadership and discusses the diplomatic lessons he learned in his bid for Colombia’s peace.