President Gustavo Petro decided this Tuesday to postpone two key appointments for his governability. First, he moved one more day the possession of the ministers that he still has pending to formalize, among whom are the heads of Justice, Science and ICT.
But, and what drew more attention, he decided to cancel the reconnaissance of troops that he had planned at the José María Córdova School. And he did it at the last minute.
The official information that was circulated in the media is that the Head of State “keeps attending urgent private government meetings”, so he could not keep his appointment with the troops.
That, immediately, unleashed a whole series of rumors, because only on Friday he had the uniforms of 52 generals of all forces hang up to designate a leadership more in line with his vision of the country.
This movement, abrupt at an institutional and political level, was accepted by the troops as constitutionally and legally appropriate, but it left an alert about them due to the experience gained from the service – only in the Police there were 24 generals who left – and the new approaches that the president intends to promote.
However, a high-ranking source from the circle closest to Petro confirmed to EL COLOMBIANO that his last-minute cancellation of the troops was due to an administrative issue.
Indeed, the information that was given to reporters from this newspaper is that in order to reconnoiter the troops it is necessary to have the appointments of the new heads of the leadership and –despite the fact that their names have been known since last Friday– These are not yet official.
The new leadership – which has not taken office – is headed by the commander of the Armed Forces, Major General Helder Fernán Giraldo. There is also the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice Admiral José Joaquín Amézquita; in the Army, Major General Luis Mauricio Ospina will remain as commander; Vice Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides will arrive in the Navy; and in the Police, General Henry Armando Sanabria remained as head.
But the images of this Tuesday speak for themselves. The stands emptying out in the absence of Petro and the presidential lectern only contrast with the dress uniforms of the uniformed men who were ready to recognize the troops.
Although some took it with laughter, several of the attendees commented in a low voice that this was “a rudeness”.
But another source assured that the escape of Colonel Benjamín Nuñez to Panama, after being blamed for cold-bloodedly killing three young people in Sucre, generated discomfort in the Casa de Nariño and that the actions to be taken are part of those “urgent private meetings.” ”.
This issue, being a case of alleged false positives, is for Petro almost honorable and, for this reason, he does not want impunity.
“The troop recognition ceremony, which President Gustavo Petro was scheduled to attend this Tuesday, has been rescheduled for the weekend with his assistance,” was the latest information released by the Casa de Nariño.
What about the cabinet?
Regarding the ministers, what the House of Nariño reported is that it is finalizing the verifications to avoid new disappointments such as that of César Ferrari, who was going to the National Planning Department (DNP), but his triple nationality (Colombian, Peruvian and Italian) stopped him in his tracks and it is very likely that another person will have to be found for that position.
The same thing happened with Mery Gutiérrez, who for a long time has been entangled with the support that the House of Nariño had given her and even ‘la U’ – the party that presented her as its file for the position – has already sent another shortlist to the Presidency to replace it and not lose that fee.
They are Alexandra Falla, Galle Mallol and Isabel de Ávila. Even over the weekend two of them were in the offices of the Head of State showing their parchments and why they can assume that ministry.
In addition, unless something changes in the next few hours, the appointment of the Minister of Science, Arturo Luna, would also have been straightened out.
And the other one that was missing, that of the Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, has also already resolved his pending issues and is expected to be sworn in this Wednesday.
In fact, the appointment was scheduled for the early hours of the morning, although there is still expectation as to whether or not that step will be taken, since the day before, possession was first summoned at 8 in the morning; then, they ran it for 3 in the afternoon. And, finally, they decided to run it for another 24 hours.
In any case, it is still striking that a President who built his image in public, with a wide spread of his activities on social networks, prefers this type of secrecy.
His work team affirms that he is involved in government activities, especially because he wants to have first-hand information that allows him to make substantive decisions, such as that of the leadership.
But, in addition, there are other aspects such as the restructuring of the very bowels of the Presidency of the Republic, which will close ministries and take away powers from ministries that in the last two administrations had a lot of power.
But, is all this enough for a Head of State not to be seen?
52
Generals left last Friday from active service due to the change of leadership.