Colombia’s House of Representatives suspends debates on government reforms

Colombia’s right-wing extremists successfully persuaded the House of Representatives to suspend all debates and votes on reforms proposed by President Gustavo Petro’s government.

MP Jose Jaime Uscategui from the far-right Democratic Center party had requested the suspension “in response to the corruption scandals and the president’s inflammatory discourse against the National Electoral Council” (CNE).

The House of Representatives agreed to suspend “debate and voting on all ordinary and statutory laws and draft legislation submitted by the Petro government.”

The suspension threatens to derail the government’s pension reform bill, which was due to be debated on Thursday and must be passed before June 20 to take effect.

Uscategui’s initiative comes amid rising tensions between the government of Colombia’s first left-wing president and the country’s far right.

According to Petro, the Democratic Center’s latest initiative in Congress is part of a broader far-right “lawfare” campaign to overthrow his government in a “silent coup.”

The president’s coalition in Congress has lost three of its most prominent senators because opposition lawyers successfully challenged their elections.

Inspector General Margarita Cabello suspended family benefits superintendent Luis Guillermo Perez for 12 years for asking pension funds to invest in the impoverished city of Buenaventura.

The Office of the Inspector General previously suspended Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva for revoking a contract to produce passports on suspicion of corruption.

Last but not least, Democratic Center judge Alvaro Hernan Prada called on his colleagues at the CNE to investigate alleged irregularities in Petro’s 2022 election campaign.

According to Uscategui, these initiatives are not a quiet coup attempt, but legitimate means to hold the Petro government and its congressional coalition accountable.