Maria Pauline Leguizamon is the first woman in Colombia to receive the rank of General of the National Army.
The distinction was made by President Juan Manuel Santos at a military ceremony in the capital Bogota.
“The world is impressive. It is an exciting transformation that we’re seeing of our increasingly better prepared trained army. These 40 woman who today achieved the rank of second lieutenant. Many of them may become general and 11 today became colonels. Maria Paulina Leguizamon, the first woman to amount to general of the army in Colombia. I congratulate you.”
General Leguizamon, a lawyer and a judge of the Supreme Military Court, has a master’s degree in Law from the University of St. Thomas in Bogota. She is specialized in criminal law and criminology, human rights law, and logistics management.