Santa Marta businessman Jaime Vives Pinedo was appointed on August 14, 2026, as the new President of Coljuegos, the state entity responsible for administering Colombia’s national revenue-generating monopoly on games of chance. His appointment comes during the opening days of the new government and under the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, now headed by Miguel Gómez Martínez, who took office on August 7, 2026.
Vives arrives at the regulator with a career focused primarily on business management, agribusiness and energy, with no significant publicly documented background in casinos, sports betting, lotteries or iGaming. He is a Business Administration professional and has been associated with BGreen, a biofuels company with operations in Santa Marta. His corporate career includes serving as manager of C.I. El Roble, a company linked to the palm oil industry, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Fedepalma. He has also held leadership positions within Grupo Biocosta, where he has been publicly identified as an executive and president of the organization.
Miguel Gómez Martínez
Vives also maintains strong ties with the business community of Magdalena. The Santa Marta Chamber of Commerce for Magdalena lists him as a representative of Biocosta Green Energy S.A.S. on its Board of Directors for the 2023-2026 term.
In 2025, as President of BGreen, Vives advocated for greater state participation to accelerate Colombia’s energy transition and strengthen the competitiveness of domestic biodiesel. The company works with palm-derived feedstocks and participates in the renewable fuels industry on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
His appointment places an executive with a profile strongly linked to private enterprise, palm oil, foreign trade and biofuels at the head of Coljuegos. The entity he will now lead regulates and administers segments including casinos and bingo halls, online sports betting, Baloto-Revancha, Súper Astro, nationwide raffles and promotional draws, while also carrying out oversight and enforcement against illegal gambling.
Institutionally, Vives will operate under new Finance Minister Miguel Gómez Martínez, a 65-year-old economist, former Deputy Comptroller General, former President of Bancóldex and Fasecolda, former congressman and former Colombian Ambassador to France, who entered the new government with a mandate centered on restoring public finances and institutional confidence.
