Posted : 2021-01-26 20:11
Updated : 2021-01-26 20:36
Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo attends a news conference following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia June 3, 2019. / REUTERS-Yonhap
Colombia's Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo has died from viral pneumonia related to COVID-19, the government said on Tuesday.
Trujillo was reported infected with coronavirus earlier this month and was transferred to an intensive care unit. He died in the military hospital in Bogota aged 69.
"The death of Carlos Holmes fills me with pain," a visibly moved President Ivan Duque said. "Colombia has lost one of its best men."
Before serving as defense minister, from where he coordinated military and police operations in the fight against drug trafficking, illegal armed groups, illicit mining and other criminal acts, Trujillo served as foreign minister in Duque's government.