2024-07-03 18:20:46
Between support and criticism, sectors gave their opinions on the change of command in the Agriculture portfolio by President Gustavo Petro.
HUILA DAILY, CURRENT NEWS
After President Gustavo Petro announced that Martha Viviana Carvajalino will replace Jhenifer Mojica in the Ministry of Agriculture, the impressions of political leaders and government officials were not long in coming.
On the one hand, the senator of the Historic Pact, Gloria Flórez, celebrated the appointment of the lawyer to head the Agriculture portfolio. “Welcome to the Government of Change. Two excellent women, honest professionals, with a career worthy of admiration. Martha Carvajalino as the new Minister of Agriculture, will promote the Colombian countryside and the agrarian reform that our country so badly needs,” she wrote on her X account.
For his part, the representative to the House, Alejandro Ocampo, highlighted the work of Mojica at the head of the ministry and hopes that Carvajalino will be able to promote agrarian reform. “We thank Minister Jhenifer Mojica Flórez for promoting productivity and advancing the development of the Colombian countryside. We wish the best to the new Minister of Agriculture, Martha Carvajalino, who will carry out the Agrarian Reform,” he said.
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Likewise, Congresswoman for the Comunes party, Sandra Ramírez, mentioned that the new official of the Petro Government will have the task of promoting projects that benefit Colombian agriculture. “We welcome the arrival of Dr. Martha Carvajalino as the new Minister of Agriculture. Agrarian reform and the development of the countryside are among the great challenges for Minister Carvajalino, who will put her experience and all her knowledge at the service of the country,” she said.
Criticism for expropriation
However, the opposition is concerned about Carvajalino’s appointment, as they believe that it could revive the controversial “expropriation.” One of them was the senator of the Democratic Center, Miguel Uribe, who issued a warning to the national leader in front of the Agriculture portfolio. “The direction the government is taking is extremely serious: more radicalism, more lack of control and a total lack of objectivity when making public policy decisions. Petro is taking us down a dangerous path. It is time to be united to confront him,” he commented.
Likewise, Congresswoman María Fernanda Cabal warned that her Senate bench will be attentive to Carvajalino’s statements, although she recalled that the new official had mentioned the figure of expropriation. “This is the tone of the new Minister of Agriculture regarding agrarian expropriation. Do the math!” she said.
Former presidential candidate Enrique Gómez said that this appointment “is worse than the previous one, an activist who will seek expropriation and the imposition of an outdated vision for the countryside, disguised as ‘social justice and redistribution’. Supporters of Santos are also coming, it seems that the regime is uniting to promote the dictatorship.”
Petro’s third Minister of Agriculture
With the arrival of Martha Carvajalino to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Government of Gustavo Petro has had three women at the head of this portfolio. The first was Cecilia López, who was there from August 7, 2022 to May 1, 2023, amid strong questions about the policies of President Gustavo Petro. “All of us here have believed that a change was needed. (…) My concern is that the change, which must continue to be a priority, will die because it will be associated with what is happening in this Government,” said the former official during an academic forum. López even signed that “the Government has dealt a blow to technocracy, it is a shame. Activism and contracts are predominating. Where is the civil service?”
Later, the portfolio was headed by Jhenifer Mojica, who maintained that agriculture is a fundamental part of Colombia’s transformation. “Colombia’s peace, overcoming inequalities, and the country’s economic growth depend on the success of the agricultural program of the Government of Change. Long live the Unstoppable Agrarian Reform,” she responded to President Gustavo Petro’s announcement.
Now it is Martha Carvajalino’s turn, who will be tasked with “promoting agrarian reform and a productive field with social justice,” as the national leader expressed on his social networks.
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