President Gustavo Petro will try to govern Colombia with a minority coalition in Congress and a cabinet of loyalists.
The progressive president took to Twitter to announce that he replaced seven of 18 ministers and the director of the presidential office’s administrative department.
Among the ministers who have been replaced are Interior Minister Alfonso Prada, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo and Agriculture Minister Cecilia Lopez.
The newly appointed ministers are long-time allies of Petro, according to local media.
New ministers
- Ricardo Bonilla (Finance)
- Jhenifer Mojica (Agriculture)
- Luis Fernando Velasco (Interior)
- Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo (Health)
- Yesenia Olaya (Science)
- Mauricio Lizcano (ITC)
- William Camargo (Transport)
The major reorganization of the executive branch followed tensions with coalition partners about their failure to support Petro’s reformist agenda in Congress.
In a press release, Petro said that his government “was rejected by some traditional political leaders and the establishment.”
The president previously criticized the leaders the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the U Party, whose members were ejected from the cabinet.
The new cabinet “will persist with our program and our commitment to major national agreements,” said Petro.
How the president seeks to push through reforms without majority support in the legislature is unclear.