This is how Alejandro Gaviria said goodbye to the government of President Gustavo Petro

After the surprise announcement of the departure of Alejandro Gaviria from the Ministry of Education, with Patricia Ariza, from the Education portfolio, and María Isabel Urrutia, from Sport, who was also Rector of the Universidad de los Andes He made two publications on the night of Monday February 27, with which he thanked the President of the Republic, Gustavo Francisco Petro, that he would have invited him to be part of his government.

“I thank @petrogustavo for the invitation to be part of his government. My opinions have always had a constructive purpose within the framework of a pluralist coalition government. I will continue to express my opinion freely so that Colombia has the best possible reforms”, said the now former education minister.

Also recognized his colleagues during his short-lived six-month stint at the Petro Executive and I send his best wishes to his successor in office.

“I appreciate the confidence and support of my colleagues in the ministry. I wish Minister @AuroraVergaraF1 much success in all that comes, especially in the reform of Law 30 in which we have worked as a team and with enthusiasm,” he added.

Specifically, after a presidential speech in which the departure of the three ministers was signaled, Gaviria changed the biography of his Twitter profile to: “Democratic reformer. Defender of freedom of expression. Now I’m a minister.”

The Head of State, on Monday nightmade an almost explosive announcement of the departure of the three officials from his cabinet who also recognized their work in this first half of his government.

“I appreciate the services rendered by Ministers Alejandro Gaviria, María Isabel Urrutia and Patricia Ariza. Through their contributions, they have contributed to enriching the debate and initiating the changes for which the country has voted”, expressed the President in the company of his renewed team at the Executive.

Although initially it was unclear who would be the replacement for the culture portfolio, an hour later it was learned that the music teacher, Ignacio Zorro, will be in charge of the aforementioned ministry when the appropriate appointment for this position is made.

It seems, The trigger for this crisis was the health reform that was tabled in mid-February by the government before Congress and including Alejandro Gaviria, who was Minister of Health for seven years with President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018 ), He was a harsh critic.

The Colombian government wants to transform the health system to strengthen primary care and also draw attention to “abandoned territories”, those remote communities where currently the closest center of attention It is several hours by boat or mule on steep roads.

The controversial initiative had provoked deep discussions in the cabinet and one of the most critical voices was that of Gaviria, who also has differences with the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, even before the two were appointed by Petro as ministers.

Even last Saturday, Gaviria made “an invitation to take on the complexity of social reforms”.

“Slogans, oversimplification, radical ideologies and empty phrases don’t help much when it comes to finding solutions,” added the now former Minister of Education on Twitter, where he published a graduation speech he gave to the doctors of the Universidad de los Andes in 2017 when he was rector of this institution.

in this linePetro assured on Monday that “this government of change is not going to give up on reforms to improve health, pensions and fair working conditions. for all Colombians.

This Sunday the magazine Change He also published a letter in which Gaviria and the Ministers of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, and of Agriculture, Cecilia López, as well as the director of the National Planning Department (DNP), Jorge Iván González, question the fiscal capacity of the State bear the costs of the ambitious health reform.

(With information from EFE)