Colombian president-elect names defense minister

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Colombia's President-elect Gustavo Petro appointed Ivan Velasquez as his defense minister on Friday.

"I thank President Gustavo Petro for the very honorable appointment he has made me as Minister of Defense. I will do everything in my power to repay his trust and help him build the country we have dreamed of so much. For life, for peace, for democracy," Velasquez wrote on ] Twitter.

Velasquez, 67, known for his track record fighting corruption, was born in Medellin, Antioquia and worked as an attorney general uncovering the network of luxuries and privileges that drug leader Pablo Escobar was afforded in the La Catedral prison, which was built to specifications ordered by the Medellin Cartel leader.

After Escobar's escape in 1992, Velasquez met Escobar’s wife to get him to turn in himself during a meeting that ended in threats and persecution against Velasquez.

​​As regional director of the Prosecutor's Office in Medellin and an assistant judge on the Supreme Court of Justice, Velasquez fought paramilitary criminal groups that committed vicious crimes while persecuting guerrilla groups.

He exposed the link between paramilitary members and various political figures and even claimed former President Alvaro Uribe had been involved with the illegal groups, of which he has not been formally charged. In 2013, Velasquez became the UN anti-corruption investigator in Guatemala.

The Cabinet of the president-elect is almost complete with the appointment.

Petro previously announced academic and economist Alejandro Gaviria as new education minister and economist Jose Antonio Ocampo, 69, as finance minister.

Ocampo served as finance minister in the 1990s and worked at the central bank, the UN and in academia.

Six other ministers have already been named. The new cabinet will be sworn in Aug. 7, when Petro is due to take office.