International
Petro’s cabinet reshuffle seeks to “put together a coalition” to pass his reforms
April 28 |
The changes in part of the cabinet of the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, imply not only the breaking of relations with some political parties that were part of his coalition and working with more “loyal” and closer people, but also that he seeks to open spaces to move forward his government projects, according to analysts consulted by Voice of America.
“Petro is a person who has not changed since we have known him in Colombian politics, I have the impression that he can close with his people, put together a coalition to try to pass his reforms and look for the street to vote him some things as it has already happened in Colombia”, explained the political analyst and columnist of the newspaper El Espectador, Pedro Viveros.
For Theodore Kahn, associate director of Control Risks, the changes offer a more united cabinet with an ideology closer to that of the president. “There is probably going to be an effort to really put forward some reforms and some public policy objectives more aligned with what Petro had put forward in the campaign and some of the banners that he has carried for several years,” Viveros said.
In this sense, Kahn adds, he will have less inconvenience when it comes to “moderating his proposals” and “accepting points of view internally” and, in this way, “achieving the more radical objectives in some areas that he wants to implement”.
The most sensitive changes within Petro’s cabinet are in the Treasury, Health and Agriculture portfolios.
The first one, due to the stability in the markets and the national and international recognition that the outgoing minister, José Antonio Ocampo, represented, not only for being known as one of the most respected economists in the country, but also because he managed to push forward the most ambitious tax reform in the history of Colombia.
Despite his good relationship with the Colombian president, he is not as close as his successor, economist Ricardo Bonilla, current director of the Financiera de Desarrollo Territorial (Findeter), former Secretary of Finance in Bogota, during Petro’s administration, and his advisor on different issues, such as pensions.
Another sensitive issue is the health reform, proposed by the outgoing minister, Carolina Corcho, whom many legislators and political leaders have described as intransigent, which presented inconveniences at the time of advancing this proposal in Congress.
“We are in the process of this very complicated reform… Petro is going to want with this change in health to exercise more control over the administrative process of this project. He does not want to lose control of this process”, said Corcho.
His successor, surgeon Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, has more experience in the political arena. He was Secretary of Health of the Mayor’s Office of Bogota and District Secretary between 2013 and 2014. He has also been senator and representative to the chamber, which opens channels in these sectors.
The departure of Agriculture Minister Cecilia López, according to Kahn, is also “interesting”, since “she was a person with a lot of credibility, very technical and was handling a Petro’s flagship proposal that was approved”.
However, her public criticism of the energy transition project in the country and the health reform proposed by Corcho would earn her departure.
This portfolio will be led by lawyer Jhénifer Mojica Flórez, the current director of Ethnic Affairs of the Land Restitution Unit. She was deputy director of the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) and has been part of several processes with the Association of Arhuaca Authorities of the Sierra Nevada and the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America4 days agoBukele begins official visit to Costa Rica based on security, cooperation and trade
-
Central America3 days agoNicaraguan Naval Force seizes cocaine on Pacific Coast, suspects escape
-
Central America3 days agoEl Salvador delivers aid to Costa Rica amid severe flooding and red alerts
-
Central America3 days agoBukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates
-
International3 days agoMarco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
-
International3 days agoSheinbaum pledges support for mexican migrants amid U.S. border enforcement plans
-
International4 days agoDaniel Ortega turns 79: 29 in power, 17 “governing from below”, and 7 in prison
-
International4 days agoLe procureur vénézuélien dénonce une campagne visant à présenter les “criminels” comme prisonniers politiques
-
International4 days agoLes migrants qui ont été retenus en Albanie par le gouvernement de Meloni arriveront ce soir en Italie
-
International4 days agoShooting at Tuskegee University leaves one dead and several injured
-
International3 days agoElon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency
-
International2 days agoMálaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
-
International4 days agoA US flight to Haiti is deflected after being shot when approaching Port-au-Prince
-
International3 days agoPresident-elect Trump chooses Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense
-
International2 days agoSeven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
-
International2 days agoHezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
-
International4 days agoIrish mobster Hutch is rending for general elections after arrest in Spain
-
International2 days agoEcuadorian judge orders preventive detention for nine inmates after deadly prison clashes
-
Internacionales3 days ago
Mexico deploys 12,000 security agents to Guerrero amid escalating violence
-
Internacionales5 days agoTropical storm Rafael weakens over gulf of Mexico after devastating Cuba
-
International2 days agoSantiago Uribe cleared of homicide and paramilitary charges
-
International4 days agoTrump appoints an ally without experience in the sector to the environmental agency
-
International2 days agoTrump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general
-
International2 days agoMarco Rubio to become first latino U.S. diplomacy chief under Trump
-
Central America16 hours agoMulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
-
International4 days agoThe court of El Salvador postpones the preliminary hearing for the massacre of Jesuit parents in 1989
-
International17 hours agoVenezuelan opposition activist dies in custody amid allegations of repressive crisis
-
International17 hours agoDrug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
-
International17 hours ago
Aemet downgrades rainfall alert as heavy rains ease in Spain
-
International16 hours agoIsraeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
-
Central America17 hours agoTen dead in Panama due to storms causing over $100 million in damages
-
International17 hours agoMaria Corina Machado sees clear signs for Venezuela after Trump’s victory
-
International16 hours agoPope Francis meets former Gaza hostages