Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro suffered a crushing defeat Wednesday after the Colombian Congress. I voted Nine members of the corresponding Senate committee voted in favor and five voted against, deciding to shelve his controversial leftist health care reform bill.
Petro, a former member of the Marxist guerrilla M19, was sworn in as Colombia’s first left-wing president in August 2022. Since then, his government has attempted to introduce a wide range of left-wing health insurance policies, as well as political, economic and social policies. reform to control Colombia.
Health reform, one of Petro’s flagship reform projects, considers fundamental changes to Colombia’s 30-year-old health system that would give the state greater control over Colombia’s health resources, facilities, and programs. This would significantly reduce the role and function of private healthcare providers. In the country.
The now-closed and controversial healthcare reform has been at the forefront of a series of peaceful protests by thousands of Colombian civilians and opposition politicians in several of the country’s major cities.most Recent Nationwide peaceful protests against Petro’s leftist reform proposals took place in early March, with more than 50,000 participants peacefully expressing their rejection of Petro’s leftist reform proposals.
Reportedly, one of the arguments supported by the Colombian government to justify the need to reform the country’s health system is that the current system is “not fair” to people living in the country’s rural areas. It is something. But a Senate committee argued in Wednesday’s vote that the bill does not address those issues.
Colombian senator Norma Hurtado, who voted in favor of shelving the bill, said: “We had the illusion that health reform was a peace agreement and would change things for everyone, but unfortunately that is not the case and the government The reforms he proposed have divided the country.” he said Wednesday.
After controversial health reform was shelved, Petro said “It’s up to us to figure out the transition” to Colombia’s new health system, he said, warning that the so-called transition would be “sudden.”
“Now it’s up to us to resolve it. What could have been a calm, orderly, and unproblematic transition with an agreement now has to be an abrupt transition,” Petro said. “Why? For what? When what we have in our hands is a human life.”
Petro immediately responded to the bill archives saying: intervention Together, Colombia’s two largest state-owned health insurance companies insure more than 16 million Colombians. Opposition politicians criticized the intervention, saying it would give the Colombian government greater control over the country’s health system and allow it to implement some of the health reforms President Petro is planning in a decree. insisted.
Mr. Petro has not been able to pass his left-wing reform bill in Congress, but blackmailed In March, he convened a Constituent Assembly to rewrite Colombia’s constitution and codify the reforms into the country’s new core legal structure.
Colombian Health Minister Guillermo Jaramillo called for a constituent assembly on Wednesday, just as the bill was being kept by a Colombian Senate committee.
Colombian Health Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo speaks to the media during a demonstration in support of the Colombian government’s social reforms in Bogotá, Colombia, June 7, 2023 (Daniel Romero/Long Visual Press).
“We don’t have any problems. That’s why we’re in the configuration process. Where else can we go to the configuration process?” Jaramillo said. Said reporters.
Petró’s call for the Constituent Assembly to rewrite Colombia’s constitution to implement far-left reforms is similar to other countries in the region that have carried out similar plans to implement socialist laws at the constitutional level in the past, such as Venezuela and Bolivia. This reflects actions taken by other left-wing governments. , Ecuador.
