Juan Fernando Cristo

Juan Fernando Cristo Bustos (born 11 July 1964) is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He served as a Colombian Senator from 1998 to 2014, and was Minister of the Interior under Juan Manuel Santos from 2014 to 2017. In this capacity, he played a key role in negotiating and implementing the peace accords signed with FARC. He was reappointed Minister of the Interior in 2024 by President Gustavo Petro.

Early life and education Juan Fernando Cristo is the son of Colombian senator , who was assassinated in 1997. He studied law at the University of the Andes.

Political career Starting in 1993, he served Colombia as a diplomat for several years. After his father's assassination, he ran for the Colombian Senate, an office he would go on to hold from 1998 to 2014. During his last year in office, he was president of the Senate.

From 2014 to 2017, he was the Minister of the Interior for the second government of Juan Manuel Santos. During his tenure, he helped broker the Colombian government's peace accords with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). However, he lost the Liberal Party candidacy to Humberto de la Calle, who subsequently lost the general election to right-wing candidate Iván Duque Márquez.