Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella sacked Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara hours after Congress found a procedural flaw in the passed 2027 budget, which makes the law invalid.
In a post on social media platform X, De la Espriella briefly thanked Lara and announced he would be replaced by the ambassador to the Organization of American States, Alejandro Ordoñez.
The news surprised the interior minister, who suddenly left a congressional debate on a law to facilitate the demobilization of illegal armed groups after receiving a message on his phone.
Lara was apparently held responsible for the blunder of Congress, whose two houses approved the 2027 budget but with conflicting versions of an article on financial risk-coverage mechanisms for the Ministry of Finance.
By the time the error was detected, the budget debate had passed its October 20 deadline, forcing De la Espriella to issue a decree that would convert an older version of the budget bill into law.
The interior minister was the administration’s primary political liaison responsible for managing legislative procedure and whip operations in Congress.
Lara’s job was already under pressure after he failed to convince Congress to cede its presidency to the president’s candidate.
While Ordoñez returns from Washington, Justice Minister Ivan Cancino will assume the role of interior minister.
The incoming interior minister is an ultra conservative Catholic with ties to the Society of St. Pius X, which considers the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church heresies and errors, and was declared in a schism with the church in June.
In Colombian politics and particularly among the opposition, Ordoñez is mainly remembered as the inspector general who illegally removed former President Gustavo Petro from his post as mayor of Bogota in 2013.
Petro was ultimately reinstated and would become president of the country in 2022.
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