Colombia: Petro asks entire cabinet to resign mid government crisis

Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, announced Sunday that he asked his ministers and other top officials to resign amid a deep split in his cabinet.

The request follows a scandalous five-hour meeting on Tuesday, broadcast live, during which Petro reprimanded nearly all of his ministers for failing to make progress on commitments to citizens.

"I have requested protocol resignation to ministers and directors of administrative departments. There will be some changes in the cabinet to achieve greater compliance in the program ordered by the people," Petro posted Sunday on X. So far, three ministers and two senior officials have resigned following the meeting, according to AFP.

A televised fight between ministers

The crisis erupted during Tuesday’s unprecedented council of ministers, where several officials, including Vice President and Equality Minister Francia Márquez, took the opportunity to express their opposition to Petro's appointments of Armando Benedetti as chief of office and Laura Sarabia as chancellor.

Long-time allies of Petro told him in front of the cameras that Benedetti and Sarabia are out of sync with the progressive agenda that won the 2022 elections, accusing them of obstructing communication between the president and his team.

Benedetti, whose political roots are aligned with the opposition to Petro's leftist project, is under investigation for alleged irregularities in the financing of the presidential campaign and faces a complaint for gender violence. Currently, he manages the president's agenda.

Sarabia, a young woman who has risen rapidly within the government, has been implicated in the largest corruption scandal of the administration over the diversion of public funds and was involved in a case of alleged illegal wiretapping against her nanny. She took on the role of Foreign Minister amid a brief diplomatic crisis with the U.S. government after Petro refused to accept a plane carrying Colombian deportees from Donald Trump's administration.

"Irrevocable resignation"

On Sunday night, Labor Minister Gloria Ramirez announced her "irrevocable resignation" via her X account, stating in her resignation letter, "Politics must proceed without sectarianism and without ambiguities."

Earlier, before Petro's request, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad also resigned, bringing the total to four of Petro's top officials stepping down this week. "As a feminist and as a woman, I cannot sit at this cabinet table of our progressive project with Armando Benedetti," Minister Muhamad said, on the verge of tears, during the meeting.

Muhamad, a minister who gained significant international recognition in Petro's persuit of a leading role in global diplomacy, said "Neither foreign relations nor the current chief of staff are in the hands of this project, they are in the hands of everything contrary to this project." 

Sarabia, Petro's successor?

Benedetti and Sarabia, who had worked together prior to joining Petro's presidential campaign, are two of the president's most trusted officials. However, unlike most of his cabinet, they are not left-wing militants.

The official hosted the United Nations COP-16 biodiversity conference in late 2024, held in Cali (southwest), and is singled out by analysts as a potential successor to Petro's political project once he leaves power in 2026.

The live broadcast of the council of ministers revealed several political squabbles and divisions within the government, which Petro vowed to address, stating on Sunday via his X account that the government would now "concentrate completely on fulfilling the program."