Reading Time: 4 minutesBOGOTÁ – Six months ago, José Manuel Restrepo never imagined that politics would once again propel him to Colombia’s center stage. About to be sworn in as the new vice president on August 7, he says that some days he wakes up thinking that it is all a dream: “Life is full of surprises.”
In February, the soft-spoken 56-year-old economist was still the head of EIA University, a prestigious private nonprofit institution on the outskirts of Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city. Now, he’s emerging as one of the most important figures in Aberlardo De La Espriella’s government, with enormous influence over matters ranging from international affairs to economic management.
Restrepo’s resume stands out in the incoming administration in which the president and several ministers have never held public office before. During Iván Duque’s administration (2018-2022), Restrepo served first as Minister of Trade and later as Minister of Finance, when the country was in the midst of a complex national strike. He received high marks for helping to defuse the crisis then.
For today’s Colombia, Restrepo will need to draw on those lessons. President-elect De La Espriella and Restrepo won the June 21 runoff election with just 49.7% of the vote, narrowly beating leftist candidate Iván Cepeda. The victory, contested by Cepeda and the outgoing president Gustavo Petro, gives the new government limited political capital in a very polarized nation.
