The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Colombia is composed of the most senior appointed politicians of the executive branch of the Government of Colombia. Members of the Cabinet are generally the heads of a Ministry Department. The existence of the Cabinet dates back to the first President Simon Bolivar. These members were appointed in order to advise the President and are therefore required to assist him in his duties as stated by the Colombian Constitution.

Current Cabinet

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The Cabinet of President Gustavo Petro.[1]

Office Incumbent Image Term began
President of the Republic Gustavo Petro   August 7, 2022
Vice President of the Republic Francia Márquez   August 7, 2022
Minister of the Interior Luis Fernando Velasco   May 1, 2023
Minister of Foreign Affairs Álvaro Leyva   August 7, 2022
Minister of Finance and Public Credit Ricardo Bonilla   May 1, 2023
Minister of Justice and Law Néstor Osuna   August 11, 2022
Minister of National Defense Iván Velásquez Gómez   August 7, 2022
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Jhenifer Mojica   May 1, 2023
Minister of Health and Social Protection Guillermo Jaramillo   May 1, 2023
Minister of Labour Gloria Inés Ramírez   August 11, 2022
Minister of Mines and Energy Omar Andrés Camacho   August 11, 2022
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Germán Umaña   August 11, 2022
Minister of National Education Aurora Vergara   February 27, 2023
Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Susana Muhamad   August 7, 2022
Minister of Housing, City and Territory Catalina Velasco   August 11, 2022
Minister of Information Technologies and Communications Mauricio Lizcano   May 1, 2023
Minister of Transport William Camargo   May 1, 2023
Minister of Culture Juan David Correa   February 27, 2023
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Yesenia Olaya   May 1, 2023
Minister of Sports Luz Cristina López   March 5, 2024
Minister of Equality and Equity Francia Márquez   January 4, 2023

History

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19th century

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In the Constitution of 1821, Simón Bolívar created a Cabinet composed of five secretariats:

  • Secretariat of the Interior
  • Secretariat of the Exterior
  • Secretariat of War and Navy
  • Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit

With time, areas of some secretariats were given to new institutions; in the mid-19th century, when the Secretariat of Trade was created, this deprived the Secretariat of the Exterior (then renamed Foreign Affairs) of that function.

In 1886, President Rafael Núñez changed their nomenclature from secretariats to ministries, and created new ones, so, in the beginning of the 20th century, after the Thousand Days War, the Council of ministers was composed of:

  • Ministry of the Government
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Ministry of War
  • Ministry of Finance
  • Ministry of the Treasury
  • 1894 - The Ministry of Justice is disbanded.

The Secretary of Trade disappeared; its assignments were transferred to the Vice Ministry of Development, under the control of the Minister of Finance.

20th century

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1990's
Ministries by the end of the 20th Century
  • Ministry of the Interior
  • Ministry of Finance and Public Credit
  • Ministry of Justice and Law
  • Ministry of National Defence
  • Ministry of Health and Social Security
  • Ministry of Labour
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
  • Ministry of Foreign Trade
  • Ministry of National Education
  • Ministry of Mines and Energy
  • Ministry of Transport
  • Ministry of Communications
  • Ministry of Environment
  • Ministry of Economic Development
  • Ministry of Culture

21st Century

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2000's

During the first administration of President Álvaro Uribe, Congress and the President passed Law 790 of 2002, which modified the existing ministries by merging and reducing their number to 13. In accordance with Article 7, the Ministries in order and precedence were then thus:

2010's

Timeline of the Council of Ministers

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Abbreviations used: Agr./Liv. - Agriculture and Livestock; Env./Hous./Terr. - Environment, housing and territorial development; Ind./Lab. - Industry and Labour; ICT - Information and communication technologies; Lab./Hyg./Soc. - Labour, hygiene and social protection.

References

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  1. ^ "¿Quiénes son los ministros del Gobierno de Gustavo Petro? Este es su gabinete". CCN Spanish. Retrieved August 25, 2022.