Colombia’s First Lady and Marco Rubio’s Wife Also Held their Own ‘Summit’
Apart from the meeting held this Tuesday, September 8, in Barranquilla by the president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, and the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, another encounter also attracted attention: that of the wife of the head of state and that of the head of U.S. diplomacy.
Colombia’s first lady, Ana Lucia Pineda, and Rubio’s wife, Jeanette Dousdebes, also had a space to interact. This was facilitated by the fact that Dousdebes has Colombian roots, as she is the daughter of Maria Elena Giraldo and Luis Ernesto Dousdebes, who migrated to the United States before she was born.
“My wife’s mother was born in Cali, she was raised in Cali. She still has relatives here, and today she lives in Miami,” Rubio said in a brief reference to his wife and family on Noticias RCN, after the meeting with De la Espriella. “The connection is very important and we closely follow what happens in the country, because of this relationship.”
This reference by Rubio was fleeting, due to the circumstances in which it occurred, but it contrasts with the mention he made of his wife on the day when, after being unanimously ratified by the United States Senate as Secretary of State and being sworn in before Vice President J. D. Vance, Rubio went to his office, where he was received with an ovation by State Department officials.
At that moment, emotional, Rubio highlighted his wife’s origins, and dedicated the first part of his speech to her and his children. “I am very proud of my wife and my four children, and of their support,” the Secretary of State said at the time, and then made his first mention of Colombia.
“My wife Jeanette, whose parents emigrated here from Colombia,” he said, and then asked two questions repeating the name of the country: “Is there anyone here from Colombia? Does anyone cover Colombia?” he inquired, making it clear that, for him, the South American country is not a lost point on the map.
Visit to the Barranquilla Carnival Museum
That was in January 2025, and a year and a half later he was in Colombia with his wife on an official visit. Regarding this event, Colombia’s first lady wrote on her Instagram account: “Today we welcomed with special gratitude the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, and his wife.”
The topics they discussed with Dousdebes, according to Pineda, had to do with the current situation of families affected by the earthquake and the response that has been provided as part of the “Colombia, One Heart” campaign.
For Pineda, that campaign is “an initiative that allowed us to demonstrate how Colombians and foreigners came together with generosity and solidarity to support those who needed it most.”
But the agenda of the two women also included Barranquilla’s social manager, Katia Nule. The three, always following what Pineda said, shared a visit to the Barranquilla Carnival Museum.
That is a very important cultural space described by the first lady as “a space to exalt our culture, our traditions and that heritage that fills us with pride and represents the joy, creativity and identity of Colombia.”
The site, surely, must have interested Rubio’s wife because it is also known that before consolidating her institutional and family role as the mother of her four children, she studied fashion design.
Dousdebes has also focused her efforts in recent years on philanthropic causes and social activism. For example, she has stood out for participating in initiatives against human trafficking in the state of Florida.
Without a doubt, since she got off the plane that brought them to Colombia, she felt the fresh air that she brings to the very serious diplomatic mission headed by her husband, with whom she will now travel to Peru and Ecuador.