Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday ratified the position of Housing Minister German Vargas and announced that Luis Eduardo Garzon will join the cabinet.
During a local radio broadcast, Santos highlighted the work done by Vargas in rural housing and also announced that Luis Eduardo Garzon would be joining his cabinet.
The president said that Vargas, “continues executing with much success in the program of free housing for the most poverty stricket.”
Vargas Lleras “is doing a very important job executing the resources with effectiveness and efficiency,” said Santos concerning the minister whose principal object is to build and give 100,000 free houses to families of little resources.
With Vargas, there are only four ministers whose titles have been confirmed, leaving 12 pending positions of Santos’ government which resigned unexpectedly last week on a voluntary basis.
Santos also announced that Garzon, an ex-mayor of Bogota, “would be joining his cabinet. He didn’t reveal which position he would be occupying but said that, “Garzon will be a part of the cabinet in a very special position with responsibilities of social dialogue and citizen mobilization.”
The president said that Garzon would play a key role when they open “the possibility of having a peace process.”
Garzon is currently the most visible leader of the Green Party. He was a presidential candidate in the 2002 elections and was named Mayor of Bogota in 2003.