The former Petro government official also foresaw problems with her security plan days before because she left the country and had no protection upon her return. The UNP has already found a solution, but they are evaluating the possibility that the ex-minister continue or modify the current plan.
Cecilia López, former Minister of Agriculture, is worried about her life. On Friday she revealed that she had been threatened and asked to leave the country. “I have received two notices to leave the country in the last two days. why is a mystery to me. My safety is in grave danger, they told me,” López told Semana magazine.
Despite the warnings, the former minister reaffirmed that at the moment she has no plans to leave the country. López was one of seven government officials who resigned from Gustavo Petro’s administration on April 26 after the head of state called for the formal resignation of his entire cabinet the night before, on April 25.
Although some of the officials who were ousted from ministries have been transferred to embassies and other positions, López has not received the same offer. Jhenifer Mujica succeeded her in the Agriculture portfolio.
On April 28, López left the country after resigning from her position as an official at the Ministry of Agriculture. The former official assured that on May 12, one day before her return, the UNP sent her an email informing her that the protections they had granted her would be gradually withdrawn. But when she arrived at Bogota’s El Dorado airport, she discovered that there were no security personnel waiting for her.
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For 90 days after leaving office, a minister or other high-ranking government official may continue to use the protection plan provided to them while they were employed. After that time, the UNP will carry out an investigation to determine your new level of risk and then provide you with a new security plan. Since López’s case is still pending, it has temporarily resumed its original plan.
The former minister, who oversaw one of the Petro government’s most ambitious initiatives, land reform, was forced out because she was one of the employees who signed the letter outlining internal concerns with the health reform.
Days before that ministerial reorganization, former Minister López was the center of a government dispute when he questioned the Minister of Mines, Irene Vélez, about her energy strategy. The government took offense at the comment, and Minister Vélez responded by saying that the then agriculture minister “wanted to say something else.”