Juan Carlos Varela

Juan Carlos Varela
Varela in 2014
37th President of Panama
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
Vice President	Isabel Saint Malo
Preceded by	Ricardo Martinelli
Succeeded by	Laurentino Cortizo
Vice President of Panama
In office 1 July 2009 – 1 July 2014
President	Ricardo Martinelli
Preceded by	Samuel Lewis Navarro
Succeeded by	Isabel Saint Malo
Minister of Foreign Relations
In office 1 July 2009 – 30 August 2011
President	Ricardo Martinelli
Preceded by	Samuel Lewis Navarro
Succeeded by	Roberto Henriquez
Personal details
Born	Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (1963-12-12) 12 December 1963 (age 60) Panama City, Panama
Political party	Panameñista Party
Spouse	Lorena Castillo ​ (m. 1992)​
Alma mater	Georgia Institute of Technology (BS)
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Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [xwaŋ ˈkaɾlos βaˈɾela roˈðɾiɣes]; born 13 December 1963) is a Panamanian businessman and former politician who served as the 37th president of Panama from 2014 to 2019. Varela previously was the vice president of Panama from 2009 to 2014 and Minister of Foreign Relations from 2009 to 2011 under President Ricardo Martinelli. He presided over the Panameñistas, the third-largest political party in Panama, from 2006 to 2016.

Varela won the 2014 presidential election with over 39% of the vote against the Cambio Democrático Party led by his former political partner Martinelli, whose candidate was José Domingo Arias.^[1] He was sworn in as president on 1 July 2014.

On 13 July 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Varela was ineligible for entry into the United States due to his involvement in significant corruption: according to the US, he accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts. Varela denied the accusation.