“The lack of dialogue with the minister has been overcome”: Roy Barreras spoke about his meeting with Carolina Corcho

After the meeting between the President of the Senate, Roy Barrerasand the Minister of Health, Caroline Liegeon the morning of wednesday march 15, the distance between the two officials came to an end, which fueled the controversy over the divided opinions within the government concerning the health reform project.

That’s how he would have let it be known. also doctor, through the networks: “Dialogue and understanding bear fruit and pave the way for just, viable and profound social reforms that improve the lives of Colombians. Reforms involve transitions. As we have always said: build on what has been built. Enjoy the good. Correct the wrong. Reason above emotions.

The discontent between Corcho and Barreras is based on at least three moments in which the deputy questioned his management of the initiative, even going so far as to use the qualifiers “ideologized” and “arrogant”, in mid-February 2023. against the minister.

“Minister Corcho, who is an ideologized minister, unfortunately has a characteristic that is not good and that is not right in any minister, and that is arrogance,” she commented in an interview. in ElTiempo.

And, right away, he commented that Minister Corcho: “broke off the conversationHe imposed his decisions, he didn’t even listen to his peers in the cabinet, he didn’t listen to the unions and disqualified them, fueling a kind of revenge reform against what they call the oligarchy”.

The above, before accusing the portfolio manager of disavow the president of the republicGustavo Petro, marking the end of the EPS with the initial outline of the reform project.

“I believe that Minister Corcho has disavowed the president, because two weeks ago a positive step was taken towards the transition”, declared Barreras, while affirming that “the president will defend, and I accompany him in this , a health reform makes a fairer system, but the president and the government have announced that the EPS will not disappear, ”he mentioned at that time in an interview for the aforementioned media.

A few days earlier, the minister had socialized in front of the National Academy of Medicine and 14 other organizations the initiative and, in unfortunate statements, blamed the sector for the financial situation they are currently in:

“Each service provider is going to have a self-regulatory board. Physician Self-Regulatory Council, where physicians go to monitor other physicians. The fiscal problem with this system is not the mayors and governors, it’s the doctors. Because the doctor can trigger public spending if he sends everything; the doctor induces the level of demand at the primary level”.

His accusations drew rejection from some health professionals, including Barreras, who at the time deemed necessary to apologizeon behalf of the government, with the union:

“I am a doctor. As a colleague, I apologize… You save lives every day… we applaud you in the pandemic… they risked their lives and now they are the culprits? “, he wrote on his Twitter account, by way of description with a video in which he listens to the statements of the minister.

However, not even a month has passed since they exposed their differences, until managed to arrange a meeting a “breakfast for peace”, as a reference Radio Blueto discuss their disagreements on how the new health system in Colombia should be structured.

“The lack of dialogue with the minister was overcome and it was agreed to promote the best possible reform so that Colombians have better health,” Barreras concluded.

Who, let us remember, was neither the first nor the only supporter of the Government in express their objections to the project. Before him, the former Minister of Education, Alexandre Gaviriahad already widely criticized the reform, which is why he ended up leaving the presidential cabinet.