LatinNews Daily - 22 October 2026

*Colombia’s Vice President José Manuel Restrepo has announced that President Abelardo de la Espriella will issue the 2027 national budget by decree due to a procedural error in the budget bill’s passage through congress, which it cleared on 20 October. Restrepo emphasised that the budget “wasn’t sunk or rejected by congress” but said that “due to a procedural error regarding one article where there were differences between the lower chamber and the senate, which could not be resolved through conciliation”, De la Espriella will promulgate “the bill which the government presented with the modifications that were approved and discussed by congress in the first debate”. There is precedent for a budget being issued by decree, with De la Espriella’s left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro (2022-2026) having done this with the 2025 budget after it was rejected by congress. This procedural hiccup may have been a factor in the replacement yesterday of Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, who was responsible for managing the government’s relationship with congress. A statement on the website of the presidency did not provide a reason for Lara’s exit but said that he played a key role in securing congressional approval for the budget proposal. Lara was replaced by Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, who is currently Colombia’s ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) and previously headed the inspector general’s office (Procuraduría) from 2009-2016.

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