2023-12-22 07:01:00
In the Petro Government, the winds of ministerial shaking are blowing stronger and stronger. The conclave, which was scheduled for two days, had to be extended to bring the members of the president’s cabinet to the board one by one, who apparently prepared scoldings ranging from “incompetent” to “infiltrated” for everyone.
It is still not known if the mess in the portfolios will be a reality in the coming weeks or if Petro is going to wait until 2024 to start the year with new ministers, what is certain is that “the annoyance is due to the execution of the budget, but also because of so much controversy in some portfolios,” admitted a source who was at the meetings.
Although the ministries have not revealed details of the conclave in which they were called to attention, sources in the Palace uncovered some harsh scoldings that Petro gave them.
So far the only one who has spoken publicly on the issue was the Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, who pointed out that it was an “honest” meeting and in a certain way confirmed that there were calls for attention because “if there is any difficulty, there is What to say without honey.”
In reality, Petro referred to his ministers without any qualms and scolded them for poor management or for the entanglements that arose in the presentation about the execution of their portfolios. Likewise, he was emphatic that he does not like so many ministerial excuses that he drags his feet and refuses to execute.
And walking along the line of Velasco, who pointed out that the ministers have “a contract that has to be renewed every 24 hours,” everything indicates that the president would be contemplating leaving several members of the cabinet without a contract. Sources consulted by this newspaper agreed that one of the most scolded was the director of National Planning, Jorge Iván González, who was in charge of directing the National Development Plan.
Mainly the slap on the wrist was based on the fact that Petro wants to enforce, no matter what, his PND without further hesitation, but he also pointed it out for serving other interests.
According to reports, the president would have referred to González as “Claudia López’s infiltrator,” apparently pointing out that the DNP has supposedly supported the mayor’s programs in the capital. In addition, it should be mentioned that González is the partner of Edna Cristina Bonilla, López’s current Secretary of Education.
But the annoyance did not stop there and Petro distributed his share to the Minister of Transportation, William Camargo. It has circulated on social networks that the president told him that he seemed like a “Uribista with another government’s agenda.” According to La Silla Vacía, the questions towards the minister were about the resources that were concentrated on the construction of highways in Antioquia. Added to this is that, according to sources in the Government, Camargo did not know how to present the minutiae in the accounts in the best way.
The next round of scolding was for the Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara, whom Petro called “incompetent.” Although the head of that portfolio was the one who did the best in percentage of budget execution (88% until November), the president got angry because Vergara got quite entangled with the issue of the figures, so much so that he had to call to other officials to help him and President Petro did not like this.
The Minister of Housing, Catalina Velasco, and the Minister of Agriculture, Jhenifer Mojica, did not go above and beyond and were also the target of the president’s reproaches on execution issues. To the latter, Petro complained about poor management in the purchase of land to advance the agrarian reform.
Tension grew in the room when the director of the DIAN pulled out a pearl in the middle of the Council of Ministers. Apparently Luis Carlos Reyes told the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, to deliver jam. He would even point out that he has a list of all those moves. Just 4 months ago, Bonilla came out to say that they were not going to distribute jam for Congress to approve the reforms but rather that they hoped it would be out of conviction, without superficial solutions.
Other ministers on a tightrope
Velasco would be one of those who would be in danger in the Ministry of the Interior. Apparently, Petro wants to make way for Armando Benedetti because of his skill in managing Congress. The president’s objective is to bring his ambitious reform agenda to fruition. “It wouldn’t be strange if they awarded Benedetti. In the government of impudence, changes in ministers are made to silence accomplices, not to work,” claimed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.
Another minister who would be walking a tightrope is Álvaro Leyva, current chancellor who cannot escape the controversies over the passport tender and also ended up involved in a scandal of alleged machismo within the entity after the departure of Martha Lucía Zamora, former director. of the State Legal Defense Agency. According to sources consulted, the ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murillo, would head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rumors are also growing of a possible departure of the head of the Defense portfolio, Iván Velásquez, due to the wave of violence that has hit the country and because kidnappings and insecurity indicators do not improve. The ambassador to the United Kingdom, Roy Barreras, would land in that position. There is even talk of a possible castling for Laura Sarabia to reach the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre) to replace Carlos Ramón González, who would go to Social Prosperity.
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