The new ministers appointed by Petro begin to take flight

Some of the seven ministers appointed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the first major shake-up of his cabinet to push forward his reform program, They began to participate this Thursday in government activities even without having assumed the positions.

The new headlines of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco; Treasury, Ricardo Bonilla, and Health, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, accompanied the president in a meeting with the bench in the Congress of the Special Transitory Circumscriptions for Peace (CTEP).

They also participated in other activities and began to give their first statements about the expectations, objectives and plans they have to lead the ministries in which they were appointed.

It may interest you: Exclusive: Olmedo de Jesús López would be the new director of the UNGRD

SCHEDULE MOVED

One of those who had one of the most hectic schedules during the day was Velasco, who has been in government since day one as Presidential Adviser for the Regions and several weeks ago he took over as director in charge of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).

In addition to participating in Petro’s meeting with congressmen, the appointed Minister of the Interior met with the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, with whom he spoke about the social reforms that drives the government.

That is precisely one of his main tasks: to help push forward the Petro reforms in Congress after the crisis that led to the departure of the government coalition of the Conservative, Liberal and U parties.

“A government has different ways of carrying out its program. It is evident that Congress is a central space, if we want to meet our goals of being a reformist government, which has a lot to do with the characteristics of a progressive government of an eminently liberal nature. , we have to carry out those reforms”Velasco told Caracol Radio.

The appointed Minister of the Interior also participated in a meeting of the National Football Commission.

“HEALTH SURGERY”

What triggered the restructuring of the ministerial cabinet was the lack of progress in Congress on the controversial health reform, which also caused the departure of the head of that ministry, Carolina Corcho.

The reform was presented on February 13 and aims to bring health care to all corners of the country and strengthen primary care and disease prevention.

However, this proposal has caused a deep controversy in the country because, according to its critics, it will jeopardize the sustainability of a system that, despite its numerous flaws, works.

In this sense, the appointed Minister of Health assured that the Government’s objective will remain the same: to expand medical care in the regions.

“Here we are performing surgery on health to improve it, to solve what we believe needs to be changed and transformed (…) We have differences in the way we see that we conceive of health, but together we can improve it, that’s what the president wants and that is what we are going to achieve”Jaramillo said on the radio program Colombia Hoy, from the Presidency.

CONTROVERSY WITH OUTGOING MINISTER

The outgoing Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, spoke at the closing ceremony of the 91st National Congress of Coffee Growers where the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), one of the most influential unions in the country, elected Germán Bahamón as its new general manager, despite because Petro asked that the election not be held without the presence of the new Finance Minister, who has not yet taken office.

In his speech, Ocampo highlighted the economic achievements he achieved in his short tenure of almost nine months and assured that the Government “must continue to be committed to fiscal discipline.”

“A few weeks ago I was able to be in different meetings with investors, risk rating agencies and multilateral banking actors and in all of them I perceive high levels of confidence in Colombia”Ocampo said.

The outgoing minister decided to maintain his presence at the event for the confidence of the coffee growers, to whom he also wanted to send a positive message to a sector that “It hasn’t been without its challenges.”