President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed Carlos Urrutia as Colombia’s new ambassador to Washington Thursday.
Santos described his childhood friend as a man, “who has all the qualities to represent our country at this special moment” with the U.S. The new ambassador’s main challenge will be to highlight Colombia’s relevance to U.S. lawmakers in Washington, following a decade of strong collaboration between the two countries.
Urrutia replaces Gabriel Silva as Colombia’s top representative in the U.S. Silva announced his resignation in June after only two years in the post .
Urrutia is a former lawyer and co-owner of the prestigious law firm Brigard & Urrutia in Bogota. In 2010, Urrutia openly supported Santos’ presidential campaign. In addition to his native Spanish, Urrutia speaks fluent English and French.
Santos also announced that Carmenza Jaramillo will be Colombia’s new ambassador to China. Jaramillo previously served as the director of Proexport, a government agency aimed at promoting tourism and foreign investment in Colombia.