Patricia Eugenia Cárdenas Santa María (born 1958) is a Colombian diplomat, businesswoman and engineer.
She is daughter of Jorge Cárdenas Gutierrez, former President of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, and Cecilia Santa María Botero.
She married, and later divorced, Ricardo Sala Gaitán with whom she had three children: María Paula, Ana Daniela, and Juan Felipe.
[2] In 1996, Cárdenas became Commercial Director at Naturandina Ltda, International Trading Co. She then entered politics from 1998 to 2000 as a City Council Member of Bogota D.C.
[3] Cárdenas presented her Letters of Credence to Emperor Akihito of Japan on 17 March 2007 at a ceremony at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, to Major General Michael Jeffery, Governor-General of Australia, on 31 May 2007 at Government House, Canberra,[4] to Sellapan Ramanathan, President of Singapore, on 26 July 2007 at the Istana,[5] and to Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand on 17 July 2007 at Government House, Wellington.