This is how the conclave between President Petro and his cabinet of ministers has progressed

The ministers and senior officials of the government of President Gustavo Petro They have been meeting since 10:00 am at the Center for Higher Studies of the National Police (Cespo) to talk about what the direction of the Executive branch will be for 2025.

Among the main issues being discussed are the budget cut, the legislative agenda and the ministerial shake-up, announced by the head of state at the end of last year. Likewise, one of the messages that the president hopes to leave in all portfolios and entities will be the need to advance in the National Development Plan (PND) and show management results.

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“I don’t like that, for the third year of the Government, the speech is let’s go, because it refers to the future, it refers to a promise. And a Government that begins its third year no longer promises, it does, it delivers.“, stated the president in December.

Gustavo Petro also hopes that, during the conclave, Each minister goes to the board and explains how his management was in the last year and how he progressed in compliance with the PND. In fact, in the first part of the day, the cabinet members finalized details of their presentations; while the president arrived after one in the afternoon to listen to the ministers’ presentations.

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Ministerial shakeup, key issue

Another of the most important points of the meeting has to do with the ministerial shakeup announced by the head of statewho will tell his officials that those who have aspirations in 2026, either for the Presidency or in Congress, must raise their hand in the coming days so that they can think about their replacements.

However, the date on which each minister would leave would not be immediate. A deadline would be given until March, which is the time when there is a risk of being disqualified from next year’s elections..

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Juan David Correa, Luis Gilberto Murillo and Andrés Camacho

Presidency

At the moment, there is talk of the departure of five ministers and directors of entities: Susana Muhamad (Environment) Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo (Health), Luis Gilberto Murillo (Foreign Relations) and Juan Fernando Cristo (Interior) and Gustavo Bolívar (Social Prosperity).

It is expected that Muhamad, Jaramillo and Bolívar will aspire for the Historical Pact, while Murillo and Cristo could move towards another current, since they are not part of the coalition and are not from the same current as the current president.

In this regard, Laura Sarabia, director of Dapre (Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic), pointed out that the meeting was to make the strategic planning for 2025 “and the goals of the end of the Government, any decision to change the cabinet or the ministries in the directions, is a decision purely of the president and is not a decision that will be discussed in the cabinet as such.“.

This Monday January 13 They focused on “how are we doing tomorrow (Tuesday 14) We are going to focus on what we are going to do, because the definition for President Gustavo Petro of this 2025 and of this government is to do, we have already dedicated ourselves to that during the day and we will dedicate ourselves tomorrow (in budget matters, results and legacy)“.

Agricultural sector

For his part, the Minister of Finance, Diego Guevarapointed out that during this first day of meeting some progress that the government has had in agrarian reform, “the first government to approach 500,000 hectares through a market mechanism. Additionally, we examine achievements in communications in greater connectivity in the country and in transportation, likewise, in fiscal terms, we send this message of parsimony, of being very rigorous with spending, but without impacting social spending, will be the great challenge of this year“.

In turn, the Minister of Agriculture, Martha Carvajalinosaid that part of the balance translates into the agricultural growth“A growth that has no precedent allows us to ensure that the Government’s policy of having agriculture as the engine of the economy is effective, and has been assertive. We have significant growth in productivity, exports and supply, which is linked to an agrarian reform policy that has advanced in redistribution, formalization, and that has advanced in the coordination for rural development, hoping for better guarantees for agricultural production.“.

The same way, Juan Felipe Harman, general director of the National Land Agency (ANT)indicated that they presented the effort of constitute 424 municipal agrarian reform committees; “advance in the massive acquisition of land purchases from the Reparation Fund and the SAE (Special Assets Company); definitely also, move forward on the issue of formalization in which the president has asked us, with emphasis on Cundinamarca and Boyacá, on small landowners who do not yet have title, which is part of the comprehensive review of what the National Agency of Lands, within the framework of the institutional design of the agriculture sector“.

Hernando Chica Zuccardi, president of the Agrarian Bankmaintained that they have come “executing and making available the economic reactivation and the agricultural sector, and food security, mobilizing resources of the order of $29 billion so far in the Government period, and growing the resources that have been made available to $22.5 billion. provision of the popular economy and food production. That is why we are going to continue with the execution of fresh resources committed to the ‘credit pact’ with more than 5 billion pesos in the following period.“.

PORTFOLIO
*With information from EL TIEMPO – POLITICS