The elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will begin his work after carrying out the act of possession that accredits him as the country’s president since his triumph in the last electoral elections. Petro’s main objective has been to form a work group that adapts to his main ideologies. So far, the president only needs to designate the head of the Ministry of Science.
Among the main objectives of the incoming government is to set aside various political clans that have made decisions in recent years. Gustavo Petro has indicated that in his first days he will seek to carry out a national agenda in order to address the main issues and needs of the Nation.
The last appointments were those that were made minutes after the inauguration in the Plaza de Bolívar. The first announced was that of the lawyer specializing in Tax Law from the Universidad del Rosario, Guillermo Reyes, who will head the Ministry of Transportation. Here his task will be to #integrate all the country’s territories and revitalize rail and river transportation to have a modern, efficient and democratic transportation system,” the President said on his Twitter account.
In the case of ICT, the person in charge will be the specialist lawyer in public, private and international contracting, Mery Gutiérrez, who also has a specialization in Information Technology. With the appointment, the new president stressed that among his challenges will be that all children and young people in Colombia enjoy the right to access the Internet, in addition to taking the technological infrastructure where it has not gone before.
The third appointment of the day was that of the economist and professor of international economics, Germán Umaña Mendoza, who, according to Petro, will have the mission in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism to turn the economy to this last line and strengthen and revitalize the production and industry. Umaña Mendoza has a master’s degree in Economics, has a specialization in Planning and Industry and courses on Training Centers and Business Consulting, and in his professional career is being the former director of the Colombo-Venezuelan Chamber, university professor, director of the Research Center for Development (CID) and dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the National University.
The challenges of the rest of the Cabinet
The first appointment was Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, who showed his support from the first election day, which is why it was one of the first pieces of the puzzle. The foreign minister will be in charge of rebuilding political and commercial relations with various countries, so one of the priority issues will be to reestablish binational processes with Venezuela.
In the education sector, the one chosen to take the reins of the portfolio was the former presidential candidate Alejandro Gaviria, with experience in various political positions in the country, he will have lThe goal of achieving free public higher educationassured Petro on the day of his appointment
One of the most notorious appointments was that of Iván Velásquez Gómez as his Defense Minister. Among the main issues that he will have to face in the Defense portfolio is the reform of the National Police and the possibility of reforming or ending Esmad.
José Antonio Ocampo will be in charge of leading the Ministry of Finance. The official has divulged some of the main points of the future tax reform, this being one of the aspects on which his administration will focus, added to productivity. Ocampo has said that the country must reindustrialize and promote sectors such as tourism, health services, manufacturing and agriculture.
Gloria Inés Ramírez was appointed to the Ministry of Labor, recognizing her work in the defense of human rights and the protection of workers. The civil servant with experience in national politics has advocated for better working conditions and fair remuneration.
Another of the main appointments was that of Carolina Corcho. The official with experience in different institutions will be the new Minister of Health. After the confirmation made via social networks by the elected president, Gustavo Petro, different sectors of the country expressed their fear of a possible drastic change to the current health system.
Irene Vélez was one of the last appointments of the next president. The official will lead the Ministry of Mines and Energy. She is an activist researcher and full professor at the Universidad del Valle, in addition to being dedicated to the critical and participatory study of environmental conflicts.
In the agriculture portfolio, Cecilia López was appointed, who announced a reform to tax fertile but unproductive lands. According to the Minister, the purchase of these lands will be carried out from those who are not willing to accept the new measures.
In the Ministry of Sports, which was created under the mandate of the outgoing president, Iván Duque, María Isabel Urrutia will be the third official to assume the reins of national sports. The Olympic medalist will focus her efforts to promote the sport with a view to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Another of the main topics will be the women’s soccer league and a balance between the money received by the women’s and men’s national teams.
Alfonso Prada Gil will lead the Ministry of the Interior. His main objective will be to achieve equity for the country’s communities and could face reforms to the National Police as part of the new measures of the incoming government. He is a lawyer and university professor, who actively participated during the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos.
Susana Muhamad will face the challenges of the Environment and sustainable development portfolio. The main goals will be the protection of the country’s various species and water resources. On the other hand, she will focus her work on caring for the soil, which is why her first announcement revolved around the controversial Artemis Law, a measure that sought to combat deforestation. After a series of complaints of excessive use of force by the entities in charge, the project is being reformulated.
The Ministry of Culture will seek to promote a change in the processes carried out in order to exploit the various inputs of the nation. Patricia Arias will be in charge there, whose experience is based on plastic art with experience in the performing arts. She will try to resolve the old controversy between actors in the national media and the use of their products without any additional compensation.
In the justice portfolio will be Néstor Iván Osuna Patiño as the new minister of justice, the official is a lawyer graduated from the Externado University of Colombia, doctor of law from the University of Salamanca and professor of constitutional law at the Externado University of Colombia. He has also been the Director of the Department of Constitutional Law at the Externado University of Colombia and in recent years he has been working as a professor of constitutional law.
The last appointment made by Petro was that of the economist Catalina Velasco Campuzano as the new Minister of Housing. The minister has a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan; a specialization in Urban Law from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and a doctorate in Political Studies from the Universidad Externado de Colombia. Velasco will be in charge of leading the processes related to decent housing that the then candidate has promulgated. She also should take advantage of the strengthening of the market in recent times.
Moving on to other state entities, Leonor Zalabata Torres was appointed as the Ambassador to the United Nations Organization in New York. The official received different criticisms for her alleged lack of experience. It should be added that she Zalabata will be the first indigenous woman to represent the country in front of the international organization.
Some experts point out that after the completion of the various accreditation processes as the new president, the remaining officials will be known, all with the aim of being able to start work early on Monday. In recent days, the first measures and proposals that the government will take for the 2022-2026 period have been disclosed.