Reforms left and right
Diva Criado
Lawyer and journalist, Master in Public Management from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Coordinator of the Human Rights Section, writer, and editor of La Independent News Agency of Spain.
As a citizen, I am keenly aware of the reforms orchestrated by the Petro government. Several aspects raise serious questions: Where are these reformist ideas going? Is it a political-social strategy aimed at making real changes in the socio-economic system that will benefit citizens and the country, or is it an unjustifiable delusion of individualistic perspectives?
These reforms are far from representing an advancement in social policy. What we are witnessing is severe setbacks. Reforms of such magnitude require a profound analysis, a successful task planning that avoids committing past mistakes.
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The proposal to modify the health system is nothing more than a mirage. Turning health into a system with less intermediation by the private sector so that the State controls the economy and the provision of services will undoubtedly generate more bureaucracy, more expense, mismanagement, and more corruption.
If the government finds that the current system is not equitable, as there are municipalities that lack health posts in their rural areas, solve the problem in another way. It is urgent. How is it possible that people from the south of Cesar and Norte de Santander have to travel to Bucaramanga to be treated?
The reform will certainly drown in quicksand, as was the case with the Social Security and later with the National Social Security Fund (CAJANAL), which lagged behind thanks to the creation of the EPSs two decades ago. It was disturbing to see the ghostly images of abandoned reference buildings all over the country, with gigantic spaces, crowded with hospital furniture and expensive medical equipment scattered everywhere.
Contrary to conventional opinion, I believe that although the EPSs have a long history of corruption, they can be improved if the controlling entities do their job well.
Regarding the labor reform, one perceives that theoretically it has good intentions, but it does not measure the impact it has on small entrepreneurs, causing the opposite effect and discouraging hiring. The pension reform must be looked at with a magnifying glass.
Concerning the energy transition policy, the government announced in its initial speech plans for phase-out and non-exploitation. Its intention, to promote sustainability and reduce dependence on oil and coal, without planning or any proposal for substitute energies. Experts argue that this policy may have dire implications in terms of social value for the sustainable development of the country.
Its focus is on not exploiting new oil wells and measuring sustainable development. The approach seems favorable at first glance, but one small detail was forgotten: the context in which Colombia is developing and its high levels of inequality, poverty, informality, and unemployment.
In less than a year, 31 reforms of the most varied nature have been presented by the President of change. From January 16 to the present, some have been dropped, and others are still being debated. So far, none of them has come to fruition, at least in this period. On June 20, the ordinary sessions and the first legislature of this Congress officially end.
By the way, what name will they give to the Ministry of Culture?
That’s where I leave you!
The labor reform and the rural sector: These are the figures for the labor market in the agribusiness sector