LatinNews Daily - 03 July 2024

*Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has announced further changes to his ministerial cabinet, continuing a mid-term reshuffle that began on 29 June with the announcement that the interior minister, Luis Fernando Velasco, was leaving the government. No replacement has yet been named for Velasco, who yesterday criticised Petro’s calls for the formation of a constituent assembly, which seems to have been the main factor in his exit. Velasco said that fixating on a constituent assembly would be a “fool’s errand” and said that in the final two years of Petro’s government “the priority should be carrying out the actions that have been planned”. Also out in the reshuffle is Petro’s justice minister, Néstor Osuna, who has been replaced by Ángela María Buitrago – previously included on Petro’s shortlist for the position of attorney general. The agriculture minister, Jhenifer Mojica, has been replaced by Martha Carvajalino, a lawyer specialising in agrarian law and land rights who Petro said will focus on “agrarian reform and a productive countryside with social justice”. The transport minister, William Camargo, was replaced by María Constanza García, who was previously deputy infrastructure minister.