© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks during an event with peace negotiators from the Colombian government and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, in Bogota, Colombia, August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Vannessa Jimenez
By Oliver Griffin and Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro denied on Thursday that he had asked his cabinet ministers to resign, despite three government sources confirming the request to Reuters and reporting in local media.
Colombian presidents frequently request mass resignations and cabinet “protocols” to make changes to the government, although this is not guaranteed.
The three government sources said Petro had asked his ministers to resign during a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Petro dismissed the reports.
“This is a lie,” he said in a message on X, referring to a story about the request.
Instead of the president demanding their resignations, the ministers offered to resign, Agriculture Minister Jhenifer Mojica said during a presentation near the capital, Bogotá.
“As for the resignations, it really was a general offer from the national government,” he said. “We must always be ready to do everything possible to fulfill the government's program.”
The director of the national planning department, Jorge Iván González, did submit a letter of resignation, but Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla told reporters it was not related to any mass resignation.
The last time Petro called for the resignation of ministers was in April, after the lower house of Congress abandoned a debate on health reform.
During the 2023 reorganization, the president replaced former Finance Minister José Antonio Ocampo with Ricardo Bonilla, and also appointed new Ministers of the Interior and Health.
