2024-07-09 16:57:29
President Gustavo Petro swore in the Interior, Justice, Transportation and Agriculture ministers at the Casa de Nariño on Monday, urging them to fight “the battle for change with an international and global perspective.”
“I hope that women and men will fight for change. It must be done, even from an international and global perspective. “A global perspective is essential for the local. Just as the local perspective is essential for the global. That distinction no longer exists. In a global world, not looking at the world is suicide, and we have to look at the world,” the president emphasized.
In this context, Petro appointed Juan Fernando Cristo as Minister of the Interior; Angela Maria Buitrago as Minister of Justice and Law; Martha Carvajalino as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Maria Constanza Garcia as Minister of Transport.
The Head of State also appointed Lilia Clemencia Solano as the new director of the Unit for Comprehensive Care and Reparation for Victims. César Palomino as the new director of the National Agency for Legal Defense of the State.
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Call to Congress to Change Laws
The president called on Congress to take responsibility for changing laws in order to revive the country’s economy.“In order to find solutions, such as the economic reactivation program that will be presented to Congress, we are inviting Congress to play a role — not to get caught up in blackmail, because that is where Colombia loses — and the political parties have to assume a historic responsibility,” said Petro. He added that “laws that do not serve us must be changed. Economic reactivation depends on several of those laws.”
Profile of the New Ministers
Juan Fernando Cristo, Minister of the Interior
Born in Cúcuta in 1964, he is a lawyer and political and social leader with a long political career in Colombia. He was a senator from 1998 to 2014, and Minister of the Interior between August 2014 and May 2017. He promoted the package of regulations for the 2016 Peace Agreement with the FARC and led the reform that eliminated presidential reelection.
Angela Maria Buitrago, Minister of Justice and Law
Lawyer and PhD in Law and Sociology from the Externado University. She was Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Justice between 2005 and 2010, standing out for her research on the retaking of the Palace of Justice. She is a specialist in Criminal Law and a member of the Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law.
Martha Carvajalino, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
An expert in land use planning and agrarian issues, she is a lawyer who graduated from the National University of Colombia. She was Vice Minister of Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture between June 2023 and January 2024. She has worked as a Judicial Prosecutor on agrarian and environmental issues, and with international organizations such as the IOM and the FAO.
Maria Constanza Garcia, Minister of Transport
Civil Engineer from the Universidad de La Salle, with a specialization in Traffic and Transportation and a Master’s Degree in Management for Development. She has more than 20 years of experience in the sector, having been Vice Minister of Infrastructure and Director (e) of Invías. She led transportation and mobility projects in Bogotá, including the SITP and the Ciudad Bolívar aerial cableway.
Lilia Solano Ramírez, General Director of the Unit for Victims
Philosopher with a master’s degree in Political Science and a PhD candidate in Social Sciences. Known for her defense of women’s rights and her denunciation of human rights violations. She instituted a management approach based on active listening and consultation as Deputy Minister of Social Dialogue at the Ministry of the Interior.
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