You are a dentist from Santa Marta who became a diplomat in Seville and then the person responsible for selling Colombia to the entire world. At what exact moment did you realize that your real vocation was not medicine — but it was nation-building?

Dentistry taught me the profound importance of detail and the direct care for the well-being of others, but my transition into diplomacy in Seville and, subsequently, to the leadership of ProColombia, was a natural evolution toward a broader kind of health: the health of a nation. The exact “click” occurred when I realized that the tools of public service allow us to heal social gaps on a massive scale. Moving from transforming an individual smile to transforming the global narrative of an entire country is a challenge I accepted with the conviction that nation-building is, at its core, about designing a future where every Colombian can thrive through our openness to the world.

ProColombia carries a mandate that no other agency in this interview series has — you simultaneously promote tourism, exports, foreign investment, and the Country Brand. Most institutions struggle to do one thing well. How do you keep those four missions from pulling in four different directions?

Many view our four pillars—exports, investment, tourism, and the Country Brand—as independent silos, but at ProColombia, we manage them as an indivisible ecosystem. The foreign investment we attract, which has already reached over $17.3 billion during this period, does not arrive in a vacuum; it comes to strengthen our export capacity and improving the competitiveness that tourists later enjoy. When an investor decides to bet on Colombia, they are validating our Country Brand, and when a tourist falls in love with our regions, they become the primary ambassadors for our products abroad. There is no tension between these missions because they all converge on a single purpose: generating value and dignified employment across all our regions.

“Colombia, The Country of Beauty” is one of the most elegant nation brand narratives in the hemisphere right now. But a nation brand is only as strong as the reality behind it. Where does the story of beauty still collide with a reality that hasn’t caught up yet?

Our brand narrative is not a coat of paint; it is a roadmap. We recognize that the staggering beauty of our biodiversity sometimes contrasts with historical challenges in infrastructure and connectivity, but that is exactly where management becomes real. We are closing that gap by bringing opportunities to 123 municipalities and supporting companies in territories prioritized for development (PDET). Reality is catching up to the narrative through the democratization of opportunity; when we secure 82 new air routes or when a cruise ship docks for the first time in Cabo de la Vela or Buenaventura, we are ensuring that Colombia’s beauty is, finally, accessible and sustainable for everyone.

Acá importante ampliar el concepto de PDET teniendo un enfoque sobre paz siendo un pilar de nuestro PND y de este gobierno. Seguramente por fuera no conocen lo que significa.

You won Gold, Silver, and Bronze at Cannes Lions on your very first entry — competing against the world’s most powerful consumer brands. When you walked into that festival hall and heard Colombia’s name called, explain that pride that you felt — and what did you think of next?

Walking into that festival and hearing Colombia’s name called for Gold, Silver, and Bronze was the ultimate validation that our creative capacity has nothing to envy from global powerhouses. I felt a profound sense of pride, not for the trophy itself, but because we proved that a government entity can and should be disruptive. Immediately after the excitement, my next thought was one of responsibility: the world was now looking at us as a benchmark for innovation. That success forced us to raise the bar; it confirmed that to sell Colombia, we cannot use yesterday’s formulas. We must speak the language of the vanguard to capture the attention of the world’s most demanding markets.

The Humanimal Tourism campaign turned migratory whales, birds, and turtles into travel ambassadors — sending personalized messages to potential visitors in their own “voices.” That is not a government idea. That is a creative agency idea. How did a national promotion agency learn to think like the world’s best creative studios?

The Humanimal campaign was born from the understanding that Colombia does not just have nature—it is living nature. We stopped being a traditional promotion agency and became a platform for powerful narratives because we understood that today’s travelers seek authenticity, not brochures. We learned to think like the best creative studios by integrating technology with our essence: if we host 10% of the planet’s biodiversity, the animals themselves are the best ones to invite the world to visit. This “creative risk” mentality is now part of our institutional DNA; it allows us to compete for global attention with ideas that have soul and environmental purpose.

Colombia hosts 10% of the planet’s entire biodiversity — 1,900 bird species, 55,000 plant species, six distinct tourism regions from the Amazon to the Caribbean. Our readers are high-net-worth travelers from the U.S. and Canada who have been to the Galápagos, Patagonia, and Costa Rica. Make the case that Colombia’s nature is in a category of its own.

For the traveler who already knows the Galápagos or Patagonia, Colombia offers something unmatched: the convergence of six megadiverse regions within a single country. We are not just a destination for observation; we are the country where nature is intrinsically linked to a vibrant culture that protects it. Our high-quality, sustainable offering allows a luxury traveler to move from the Amazon to snow-capped peaks or the Pacific rainforest with a logistical richness that other destinations cannot replicate. In Colombia, biodiversity is not a museum; it is an immersive, conscious experience that redefines the very concept of exclusivity.

The AmaMagdalena — the first luxury river cruise on the Magdalena River — launched in 2025. That is a product designed exactly for BajaTraveler® readers: slow travel, cultural immersion, premium experience, off the beaten path. Tell us what a traveler actually sees, feels, and eats on that journey.

The launch of the AmaMagdalena and AmaMelodía marks a milestone in the history of our luxury tourism. It is a journey where the passenger feels the pulse of the most important river in our history, watching from their balcony as the landscape transforms between the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar, and Magdalena. You feel the warmth of communities in Mompox or Palenque, you hear the water mixing with jazz and bullerengue, and you taste a gastronomy that is a feast of ancestral flavors and contemporary techniques. It is “slow travel” at its finest: a deep immersion into heritage and nature that leaves an indelible emotional footprint.

You spent seven years as Colombia’s Consul General in Seville. You watched Europe look at Latin America from the outside. Now you’re on the inside, selling Colombia to Europe and North America simultaneously. What does the world still get fundamentally wrong about Colombia?

Despite the significant transformation Colombia has undergone, there are still outdated perceptions that fail to capture the country’s current reality and potential.

From my experience in Europe, I often saw Colombia being understood through a narrow lens, one that overlooked its sophistication, resilience, and capacity for innovation. Today, one of the biggest misconceptions is that Colombia is still an emerging player with limited capabilities. As a matter of fact, Colombia is a strategic partner with a diversified, high value offering

In exports, for example, we are moving far beyond traditional commodities. Colombia is increasingly recognized for its value-added industries, from agro-industrial products with strong sustainability credentials, to fashion, cosmetics, and creative industries that reflect our cultural richness and talent.

Another misunderstanding is the scale of our opportunity. Colombia is not only a market of more than 50 million people, it is also a gateway to Latin America, with privileged access to over 60 countries through trade agreements, and a business environment that continues to evolve and strengthen.

But perhaps what the world gets most wrong is underestimating the power of our regions. Colombia’s diversity is not a challenge; it is our greatest asset. Each territory offers unique capabilities, and together they form a dynamic, competitive, and deeply authentic country.

Changing perceptions is not about correcting a narrative, it’s about consistently demonstrating, through results, that Colombia is a reliable, sophisticated, and forward-looking partner.

Colombia’s tourism sector plan targets 7.5 million International visitors by end of 2026. You are already at nearly 7 million. You are going to hit that number. What happens the morning after — what is the next vision, and is Colombia ready for the kind of high-volume tourism that destroys the very things that made a destination worth visiting?

We are very close to our 2026 goal, having seen a 113% growth compared to previous periods, but our vision is not simply to accumulate numbers. “The morning after” is about quality and regeneration. Colombia is ready for volume because our strategy is rooted in decentralization; we don’t want to saturate traditional spots but rather integrate emerging destinations like Usiacurí or Magangué into international circuits. Our bet is on tourism that does not destroy but restores—where the arrival of travelers translates into environmental conservation and well-being for local communities. Real success will be measured by sustainability, not just statistics.

You have rebuilt Colombia’s image to the world — from a country people feared to one they dream about. If you could sit across from the traveler who is still hesitating, still carrying the Colombia of the 1990s in their imagination, what would you say to them?

To that traveler who still holds onto the memory of the Colombia of decades past, I would say that they are missing out on one of the most fascinating flowerings of the 21st century. The country they imagine no longer exists; it has been replaced by a vibrant, safe, and deeply welcoming nation that today attracts the world’s most important cruise lines and airlines. I would tell them to come and see for themselves how we have transformed fear into hope and exclusion into opportunity. Colombia is not just a place to visit; it is an experience that changes the perspective of everyone who lives it. We are waiting to show you that today, more than ever, beauty is our greatest power.