Petro had lambasted his cabinet on state TV last week and said the government was underperforming. President Gustavo Petro has prompted government chaos as he demanded that the entire cabinet should resign.
The president called on Sunday for ministers and other senior officials to step down. The move came amid soaring tension after Petro lambasted his team on live television, while some members of the government have condemned recent appointments. Some reshuffling in the cabinet for even greater conformity with the program instructed by the people,” Petro said on social media platform X.
Labour Minister Gloria Ramirez followed, announcing her resignation on social media platform X hours later. Politics must move on without sectarianism and ambiguity, she said. Tension within the government had been building for weeks since Petro appointed some new ministers.
Some in the cabinet have vocally protested, disapproving of the appointment of Laura Sarabia, Petro’s scandal-hit former chief of staff, as foreign minister. The appointment last month came as Petro engaged US, President Donald Trump, in a standoff over migrant deportation flights.
Sarabia has been involved in a corruption investigation and was also a party to a case of alleged illegal wiretapping. The tension only grew when last week Petro subjected the cabinet to a five-hour public dressing-down live on state TV.
