President Juan Manuel Santos announced the re-appointment of Juan Carlos Pinzon as Colombia’s defense minister on Tuesday during the National Army’s 195 anniversary celebration.
Juan Manuel Santos said that “I know Juan Carlos wants peace as much as I do. He is also hurt every time a soldier or policeman falls in combat, every time a Colombian dies in this war.”
Santos announced that he will also keep Mauricio Cardenas as finance minister, and Maria Angela Holguin as foreign minister last week. Aurelio Iragorri was appointed to the Ministry of Agriculture, while Juan Fernando Cristo will fill Iragorri’s former position as minister of the interior.
With these offices in place, the President still needs to fill the remaining 11 seats that will form the new government. It is expected that the bulk of these seats will be announced on Thursday, the day Santos is officially sworn into office for his second term as president.
Pinzon took office as defense minister in September 2011.