User:Lucido334/Luis Carlos Velásquez Cardona

Luis Carlos Velásquez Cardona (Manizales, September 22, 1985) is a Colombian architect and politician who served as the governor of the department of Caldas from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2023.

Biography
He was born in Manizales, the capital of the department of Caldas, on September 22, 1985, to Julialba Cardona Ospina and Carlos Arturo Velásquez Jaramillo. He studied architecture and urban planning at the National University of Colombia, Manizales campus, and earned a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Autonomous University of Manizales. He also studied Executive Development at the College of Advanced Management Studies.

In the public sector, he served as Secretary of Sports of Manizales in 2011, during the organization and celebration of the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, held in Colombia, and again from 2015 to 2018. He was also an advisor to the ministers of Environment and Sustainable Development, Gabriel Vallejo and Luis Gilberto Murillo, in the government of Juan Manuel Santos, from 2015 to 2017.

In the private sector, he was the manager of social responsibility and public affairs for the South-Central America and Caribbean region of Cemex Colombia S.A. from 2017 to 2019, executive director of the Nutrir foundation, and organizer of Teletón Manizales. He also worked for the sports team Once Caldas.

In the 2019 regional elections in Colombia, he ran for the Governorship of Caldas with the support of the "United for Caldas" signature movement, as well as the support of the Social Party of National Unity, the Radical Change Party, the Green Alliance Party, the Alternative Indigenous and Social Movement (MAIS), and Colombia Renaciente. On October 27, 2019, he was elected with 208 757 votes, equivalent to 49.84% of the total. His vote count was historically the highest in the elections for governor in Caldas, surpassing candidates Camilo Gaviria (Liberal Party / Democratic Center Party) with 136 761 votes and Ángelo Quintero (Conservative Party) with 25 134 votes. He received support from outgoing governor Guido Echeverri, and promised to continue the road plan of his predecessors, as well as to "support the construction of social housing, provide internet access to educational institutions in the department, and protect social leaders and human rights defenders." In addition to the support of the outgoing governor, he received backing from Senator Mauricio Lizcano; Representatives Juana Carolina Londoño and Óscar Tulio Lizcano; and withdrawn candidates Luis Guillermo Giraldo (Colombia Renaciente) and Fabio Hernando Arias (Independent).