Petro announces the names of its new ministers

The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, informed the public of the name of the new ministers that will integrate his executive train. He stressed that the cabinet will help consolidate the government program and the basis of a frank and sincere national agreement.

The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced changes in his Executive Cabinet. The president announced the name of the new officials one day after he requested the resignation of all his ministers, after a reform to the health system was rejected in the lower house of Congress.

“Today a new cabinet is being built that will help consolidate the government program, a program that will be the basis of a frank and sincere national agreement to continue working at the service of communities throughout the country,” Petro said in a release disclosed in the afternoon of April 26 in which he announced the relief.

*Also read: Petro asks his ministers to resign and terminates the government coalition

Among the changes reported by Petro is the departure of the finance ministers, José Antonio Ocampo, who was considered a trusted name in the markets; that of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, and that of Health, Carolina Corcho, highly criticized by some sectors for her health reform project that was partly the trigger for the ministerial crisis.

The new ministers announced by Petro are: Finance, Ricardo Bonilla; Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco; Cheers, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo; Agriculture, Jhenifer Mojica; Science, Yesenia Olaya; ICT, Mauricio Lizcano, and Transportation, William Camargo.

Many of the new ministers were Petro’s secretaries during the time he was mayor of Bogotá between 2012 and 2015, as is the case of Bonilla, Jaramillo and Camargo.

In the information provided by the president, it was learned that the ministers of Agriculture, Cecilia López, are staying on the executive train; Science, Arturo Luna; Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Sandra Urrutia, and Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, who was also criticized for managing the air crisis in the country.

“Despite the fact that my cabinet, and its commitment to dialogue and the pact, was rejected by some traditional and establishment political leadership, we are going to persist with our program and our vocation for great national agreements,” added the president.

With the exception of Carolina Corcho, who is very close to Petro, and Alfonso Prada, most of the ministers leaving the cabinet are members of or close to the Liberal, Conservative, and U parties, which do not support the reform project in Congress. of health presented by the Government.