BOGOTA - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been re-elected to a second four-year term. Following is a brief introduction to the Colombian leader.

Santos was born in Bogota in August 1951 into a powerful family that had a long tradition as members of the Colombian Liberal Party and as owners of the most important Colombian daily, El Tiempo.

As a young man he enlisted in the navy, and studied at the Colombian naval academy in Cartagena.

After leaving the navy, he studied at the University of Kansas in the United States, and the London School of Economics, where he obtained a master's degree in economics. He received a second master's degree in public administration at Harvard.

Santos entered politics in the 1970s, joining the conservative camp with the help of his granduncle Eduardo Santos, who was president of Colombia between 1938 and 1942.

He served as foreign trade minister in the government of President Cesar Gaviria from 1991 to 1994, as finance minister in the government of President Andres Pastrana from 2000 to 2002, and as defense minister from 2006 to 2009 in the government of his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe.

Uribe, a hardliner, became one of Santos' most vocal critics when President Santos decided to initiate peace talks with the country's largest armed leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, in an effort to put an end to a decades-long conflict.

Santos' election loss would have likely jeopardized the peace process, as his main rival, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, is a protege of Uribe.

According to the English-language news website Colombia Reports, two of the country's left-leaning opposition groups made an unusual move of supporting the conservative Santos' re-election bid in the second round, citing his defense of the peace process.

Aida Avella of the Patriotic Union, told reporters: "We believe it is best to support the candidate who has opened dialogues, and seeks a political and negotiated solution."

Santos is married to Maria Clemencia Rodriguez and has three children.