Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro surprisingly decided this Monday to replace Alejandro Gaviria as education minister in the first cabinet crisis of his half year in office. Gaviria, a renowned economist who was health minister in the government of Juan Manuel Santos, has not concealed his objections to the health care reform project sponsored by Minister Carolina Corcho. Culture Minister Patricia Ariza and Sports Minister María Isabel Urrutia will also step down, Petro announced in an address by the President accompanied by the rest of his cabinet.
“I appreciate the services of Ministers Alejandro Gaviria, María Isabel Urrutia and Patricia Ariza, whose contributions have helped to enrich the debate and initiate the changes that the country voted for. And I invite you to help us build this social pact wherever you are,” the President concluded his message. “We are at a crucial moment for our reforms and we need more cohesion and determination,” he said shortly before the departures were announced.
Petro began his brief speech by pointing out that “in a democracy, diversity of opinion is a value” which he fully shares. Gaviria has been one of the most critical ministers in recent weeks with the health care reform project. The first left-wing president in Colombia’s recent history wants to pass an ambitious reform package in Congress that includes pension and work reforms in addition to the health care system. “This government of change will not abandon reforms to improve health, pensions and fair working conditions for all Colombians,” he said.
“The goal is simple, the how and the means are complex: we simply want every patient cared for and disease prevented, every elderly person to have a pension bonus, every worker to have job security,” he continued. “Health is a right, not a business. And private activity, which is welcome, cannot prevent or limit that right,” he said, resorting to one of the slogans used by the executive branch to push for the overthrow of the health system, the most controversial of the proposed major social reforms of the government. The debate was already heated, dividing opinions in the governing coalition and even revealing the cracks in a ragtag cabinet that brings together diverse political forces.
Gaviria’s departure is known after a document was leaked in which both he and three other cabinet members disclosed their observations on healthcare reform. The group also includes finance ministers José Antonio Ocampo; Agriculture, Cecilia López; and the Director of the Department of National Planning, Jorge Iván González. Officials warned about the tax implications of the initiative and insisted a blended health insurance model must be retained. Earlier this month, another document was leaked in which Gaviria questioned the project in a council of ministers. There he emphasized that the initial diagnosis was wrong: “It seems to indicate that all or most of the problems arise in the administration of the system. As if the abolition of the EPS would solve the problems of financial unsustainability, corruption and territorial inequalities.”
Gaviria, former rector of the Universidad de Los Andes, will be replaced by his previous deputy minister for higher education, Aurora Vergara, while Astrid Rodríguez will replace Olympic medalist María Isabel Urrutia as sports minister. However, Petro did not name names for the cultural portfolio, which Vice Minister Jorge Zorro is responsible for. “I wish the President had informed me about this,” said now-former Minister Patricia Ariza in her initial reaction to the news of Caracol Radio’s Hora 20 broadcast.
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