Iván Duque Márquez ODB ODSC OSP GOM CYC OSC OMDSM GColIH (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβan ˈdu.ke ˈmaɾkes]; born 1 August 1976) [1] is a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022.

He began his professional career in 1999 as a consultant in CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and later served as an advisor at the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Public Credit during the government of Andrés Pastrana (1998–2002).

Subsequently, he was appointed by Juan Manuel Santos, future president and then-Minister of Finance, as one of Colombia's representatives at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a post he held between 2001 and 2013.

Between 2010 and 2011, he was a consultant at the United Nations (UN) in the Panel of Inquiry appointed by the Secretary-General for the Incident of the Gaza Flotilla that occurred on 31 May 2010, between Israel and Turkey, known as Mavi Marmara.

[citation needed] During his time as a senator, he was the author of four laws: On 10 December 2017, Duque was nominated by his party as its candidate for President of Colombia.

He won the nomination through a system of surveys conducted by the party, with a 29.47% favorability compared to the other two candidates: Carlos Holmes Trujillo who obtained 20.15%, and Rafael Nieto with 20.06%.

During his speech, Duque thanked the support of Colombians at the polls and announced Marta Lucía Ramírez as his running mate in the elections.

[19] In 2020, after the drug lord "Ñeñe" Hernandez was murdered in Brazil, some audios of him conspiring to give money to Duque's party in order to buy votes for his election were published in what is known as the "Ñeñepolítica".

[22] Opposed to the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the FARC guerrilla group, Duque, nevertheless stated at the time of his election that he had no intention of "smashing it to bits".

His government sought to weaken the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and cut the budget of the Truth Commission and the Unit for the Search for Disappeared Persons by 30%.

The plan was widely criticised by environmentalists, who considered it dangerous for the environment and the climate, and offering the country's non-renewable resources to foreign multinationals.

[25] The program enjoyed great popularity initially, since it was shown as an effective means to timely communicate the news about the measures used to contain the spread COVID-19.

[33][34][35] Demonstrators criticise also the government's desire to make the labour market more flexible, to reduce the public pension fund in favour of private entities and to raise the retirement age .

[38] The Presidency of Ivan Duque has continued the policies of his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos in regards to immigration and the Venezuelan refugee crisis.

"[41] His decision to provide temporary protected legal status to nearly 1.7 million Venezuelan migrants drew praise from leaders around the world.

[42] Duque pursued very close relations with the Trump administration in the United States and supported its projects in Colombia and Latin America.

[43] Despite his party supporting Donald Trump during the 2020 US presidential election, Duque maintained very good relations under the presidency of Joe Biden.

Two days after the end of his presidency, he was named a "distinguished fellow" at the influential Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., a U.S. government-funded think tank with a monthly salary of $10,000.