Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos announced that the resigning President of the employers’ association, Luis Villegas, will to be replace the ambassador to the United States who was forced to reign over land theft accusations.
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Villegas, who attained a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Paris, has been “the visible face of the unions since 1996” and is serving as a negotiator in ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC.
The business representative is to replace Carlos Urrutia who resigned on July 23 over a land theft scandal in which he was implicated. Politicians including opposition Senator Jorge Robledo had claimed that Urrutia had facilitated the obtaining of stolen land for a Brazilian company.
MORE: Colombian ambassador to Washington resigns over land theft scandal
This is not the only change that Santos has made. He recently changed up to twelve government positions and shuffled his entire military and police command.
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The president did not remove any ministers from their position as predicted by economic newspaper La Republica earlier last week.
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