Vice President Isabel Saint Malo Preceded by Ricardo Martinelli Name Juan Varela | Preceded by Samuel Lewis Navarro Role President of Panama Succeeded by Isabel Saint Malo Spouse Lorena Castillo (m. 1992) | |
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Full Name Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez Born 12 December 1963 (age 60)
Panama City, Panama ( 1963-12-12 ) Alma mater Georgia Institute of Technology Education Georgia Institute of Technology Children Stefan Varela, Gian Carlo Varela, Adrian Varela Parents Bexie Esther Rodriguez Pedreschi de Varela, Luis Jose Varela Arjona Siblings Luis Jose Varela, Aileen Varela, Jose Luis Varela Jr., Linette Varela Similar People Ricardo Martinelli, Lorena Castillo, Isabel Saint Malo, Arnulfo Arias, Salvador Sanchez Ceren Profiles | ||
Political party Panamenista Party | ||
Panama 2014 a conversation with juan carlos varela
Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (born 12 December 1963) is a Panamanian politician and the President of Panama since 2014. Varela was Vice-President of Panama from 2009 to 2014, and Minister of Foreign Relations from July 2009 to August 2011. He has been President of the Panameñistas, the third-largest political party in Panama, since 2006.
Contents
- Panama 2014 a conversation with juan carlos varela
- President obama meets with president juan carlos varela
- Early life and education
- Career
- Personal life
- References
Varela won the 2014 presidential election with over 39% of the votes, against the Cambio Democrático Party, led by his former political partner Ricardo Martinelli, whose candidate was José Domingo Arias. He was sworn in as President on 1 July 2014.
President obama meets with president juan carlos varela
Early life and education
Born in Panama City, Juan Carlos Varela is a businessman and entrepreneur, whose family hails from Herrera Province. His paternal grandfather José Varela Blanco emigrated from Bergondo, Galicia in Spain and settled in the district of Pesé, Herrera in Panama. After graduating from Colegio Javier, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering in 1985.
Career
In the private sector, Varela has been on the board of his family company since 1985, serving as Executive Vice-President of Varela Hermanos S.A. until 2008.
Varela entered politics in the early 1990s, becoming chief of the Panameñista Party campaign in 1994 and was the Panameñista Party's presidential candidate during the 2009 election; Varela joined forces with his rival, Ricardo Martinelli, as vice-presidential candidate, being sworn in on July 1, 2009 as Vice-President of Panama under President Martinelli. Varela won the 2014 presidential election, winning against the ruling-party candidate José Domingo Arias, who was supported by Cambio Democrático, a party led by outgoing President Ricardo Martinelli. Varela won about 39% of the vote against 32% for Arias.
Personal life
He is the son of José Varela and Beixie née Rodríguez. Varela married Panamanian journalist Lorena Castillo in 1992. They have three sons, Gian Carlos, Adrian and Stefan, and live in the Palacio de las Garzas, the presidential palace in Panama City.
