Professional Affiliation

Former Minister of Defense of Colombia and Former Ambassador to the United States

Expert Bio

Juan Carlos Pinzón is a Distinguished Fellow at the Wilson Center.

Ambassador Pinzón was recently a visiting professor at Princeton University, where he taught courses on Political Economy in Latin America, national security, geopolitics, and diplomacy. He served twice as Ambassador of Colombia to the United States and Minister of National Defense. He has been a member of boards and advisory boards of companies in the United States, Colombia, South Africa and other Latin American countries, in sectors such as banking, investment, consulting, and industrial among others. Currently, he is a member of the Interamerican Dialogue in Washington, and of the Global Future Council on Geopolitics of the World Economic Forum. He was a candidate for President of the Republic of Colombia on two occasions.

He served as ambassador to the United States from 2021 to 2022 and 2015 to 2017, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2022; and in both his tenures the strategic relationship between the two nations reached the highest level. From 2018 to 2021, he served as president of ProBogotá, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting public policies and long-term strategic projects. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Colombia’s Minister of Defense at a critical moment in the country’s history.  He became the youngest MoD and the longest serving in the position. Under his leadership the military and police had the largest investment in decades, strengthening personnel, technology and equipment; the most significant blows were dealt to organized crime in Colombia.

Besides  these positions, he has also held others, such as Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2011, Deputy Minister of Defense from 2006 to 2009, Senior Advisor at the Board of Directors of the World Bank from 2004 to 2006, Vice President of the Colombian Banking Association from 2003 to 2004, and Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Finance from 2000 to 2002, as well as corporate positions in Citigroup and private sector companies.

Juan Carlos Pinzón holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and three master’s degrees: a MSc in Economics from the same university, a MPP in Public Policy from Princeton University, and an honoris causa MSc in National Security from Colombia’s War College. Pinzón has also taken advanced courses on strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University; on science and technology policy at Harvard University; on smart cities at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; and on ESG at Universidad de Barcelona.  He has been honored with several awards, scholarships, and decorations, including the Grand Cross of the Order of Boyacá and the Medal of Merit for Public Service from the U.S. Department of Defense (War).

Expertise

Colombia

Latin America

Security

Foreign Affairs

Geopolitics