Iván Duque

Profile Overview

Iván Duque Márquez (Latin American Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβan ˈduke ˈmaɾkes]; born 1 August 1976) is a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022. He was elected as the candidate from the Democratic Centre Party in the 2018 Colombian presidential election. Backed by his mentor, former president and powerful senator Álvaro Uribe, he was elected despite having been relatively unknown a year before the election. He ran on a platform that included opposing Juan Manuel Santos' peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group. After Duque's term came to an end, he was succeeded by Gustavo Petro on 7 August 2022, after Petro won the runoff round in the 2022 Colombian presidential election.
Despite personally opposing the peace agreement with the FARC, Duque did not cancel it when in office. During the Venezuelan refugee crisis, Duque had an open door policy toward Venezuelans, allowing them to settle in the country and allowing around 1.7 million refugees to gain protected status in Venezuela. Another major issue that spanned part of his term was the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia. His rule was marked by protests, the 2019–2020 Colombian protests caused by those who opposed corruption and income inequality, as well as the 2021 Colombian protests against a proposed tax measure. His approval rating had declined, being as low as 30% in his last year in office.