Gustavo Petro requested the resignation of his entire cabinet

He Colombian President Gustavo Petro He asked for the formal resignation of his entire cabinet on Tuesday after giving a speech criticizing the difficulty in getting the social reforms promoted by his government in Congress.

This was confirmed to EFE by sources from the Presidency, who did not provide more details about the President’s decision, which will be the second major shakeup of his government after the departure last February of the then Minister of Education, Alejandro Gaviria; Culture, Patricia Ariza, and Sport, María Isabel Urrutia.

Then the president posted a thread on Twitter in which he assured that he would “review the government” because of the “policy decisions made today.”

This applies to parties Conservative, liberal and from the United States they confirmed this Tuesday that they do not support the health reform that was approved today in its first procedure The Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives.

“The call for a social pact for change was rejected. Those who got rich with public money did not understand that society is demanding their rights and that this implies a dialogue and a pact,” said Petro.

He added: “The political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today with the decision of some party presidents. Some of them are threatening the majority of their own bench (…) Despite the majority of votes at the polls calling for change in Colombia, this is being tried to be closed with threats and sectarianism”.

The cabinet consists of representatives of the left-wing coalition Pacto Histórico, as well as members of the U, Liberal and Conservative parties.

Peter’s speech
In his speech this Tuesday, during the delivery of property to peasants in Valle del Cauca (southwest), the president assured that “there is still an opportunity for both the Government and the Colombian society so that through dialogue and a pact of social reform changes can be made”.

For this purpose, he added “We need a government decision, we need the courage of the government and a peasant movement that rises in dignity.”

“We have to make the peasantry express itself in Colombia in mobilization, in demonstrations, in organization, in the creation of leadership, in the possibility of a real transformation of the country in Colombia,” Petro added.

For this reason, the president said that an emergency government should be installed because “Congress has not been able to approve some very peaceful simple articles that would allow for a better democratization of the country.”

health reform
On April 18, the president precisely assured that the health reform is the “litmus test” of the government coalition.

“This is the litmus paper of the majority coalition, these are the fundamental reforms that implement the government’s program that the people elected,” said the president.

The reform was presented on February 13, and its goal is to bring healthcare closer to all sides and strengthen primary care and disease prevention, but it has been sharply criticized because it wants to change the entire system, while ignoring its achievements.

Even former president Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), who was close to Petro on the issue of peace, told him today in a message on Twitter: “President Gustavo Petro: Colombia has one of the best health systems in the world. I am not me saying that, says the journal The Lancet. Of course, there is much to improve, but we cannot destroy what we have built.”