Juan Fernando Cristo, Colombia’s new Interior Minister, has the historic responsibility of accelerating the implementation of the peace agreement with the extinct FARC guerrilla group and of turning around the deteriorating relationship between Gustavo Petro’s government and Congress. The president sought in him a profile with experience and moderation, capable of building bridges and making alliances with all political sectors. In an interview with EL PAÍS, Cristo (Cúcuta, 59 years old) explains that his priority will be to build a national agreement that lowers the aggressive tone of public debate and allows the whole of society to define a minimum for the country to overcome its most serious problems: inequality, violence and centralism. From his office, in an old house in the center of Bogotá, the new minister, who already held the same position in the government of Juan Manuel Santos, assures that President Petro will not seek reelection or an extension of his mandate. The focus is on social reforms, he assures, such as labor and health.
Cristo defines himself as a liberal, social-democratic man. He admits that he has ideological differences with Petro, but affirms that the president has a democratic spirit and defends the institutions: “We have not become like Venezuela, they have not expropriated anyone, and whoever continues to say that Petro wants to stay in power is because he is in a political campaign.”
Ask. You have said that your priority will be to seek a national agreement. What does that entail?
Answer. There are three fundamental issues: the first is to accelerate compliance and implementation of the peace agreement with the FARC. For the Government, that is an absolute priority. I think that four years of the Duque Government (2018-2022) were lost and in these two years of Petro there has been will, but there has not been enough progress. What we are going to present to Colombian society in two weeks is a shock plan for the implementation of the agreement. The idea is to sign a concrete pact in each of the PDET zones that defines what we are going to do there, how much money is required and in how much time. These territories have been waiting for peace to arrive for years.
P. Is that what it’s for? Fast-Track What did Petro propose at the UN Security Council?
R. When the president spoke of fast track He referred to the need for Congress to approve laws related to the implementation of the peace agreement. We are still defining the content of the package of laws that the implementation requires, and also defining the best procedure in Congress. It is not necessarily the best way to proceed. fast trackthere may be mechanisms that generate more consensus and are faster, such as messages of urgency, or insistence, or joint sessions.
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P. What is the second point of the national agreement?
R. The legislative agenda. We are already discussing the economic reactivation plan with the unions. In addition, we have the labor reform, which is still in process, and the health reform, which will be presented during this period. We are also working on the reform of public services, the mining law, and the reform of the accusatory penal system. The Government is not going to file the projects immediately, but will begin to socialize them with the different political sectors, to try to move forward and find consensus with the idea that they do not sink. The third point of the national agreement is a pact for territorial autonomy. Centralism is a model that has run out in the country, causing many of the problems. The regions only receive about 18% of the national budget. That makes the country unviable. There is no way to manage a country of the size and population of Colombia from Bogotá.
P. Will this grand agreement be framed within the defense of prohibiting presidential reelection?
R. Yes, we want to make an agreement to give peace of mind and certainty to all sectors of the country that clearly indicates that the prohibition of re-election in Colombia is not to be touched. We all agree that the best mechanism for democracy is alternation every four years, without increasing periods and without presidential re-election. In addition, we are going to make an agreement to exclude violence from the exercise of politics in Colombia, as established by the peace agreement. We are in a serious situation in which we can go back 20 years if we continue with this very violent verbal climate. That is happening in democracies throughout the world: the simplification of debate, insults, polarization, but in Colombia it can be more serious. Our democracy cannot afford that luxury, we have lived with violence for a long time. From verbal arson and insults to the contrary, there is a step to fanatics attacking a leader. That is my great concern for 2026. We must call on all sectors to be moderate.
P. Speaking of moderation, is the constituent assembly part of that agreement?
R. The constituent assembly is only viable if it is the result of a national agreement and if it is carried out in accordance with the 1991 Constitution. There is no other option, nor is the Government seeking any other path.
P. You have said that this constituent assembly would be to speed up three major reforms that have been impossible to approve in Congress: political reform, justice reform and territorial planning. Is this the only way?
R. We are working on proposals for these three reforms. The most important thing is to agree on the content, rather than the form. What I do not doubt is that they are structural and are essential for this country to improve.
P. Because?
R. The political system works very badly, just look at what is happening in Congress, that is repeated cyclically. People come and go, but the system does a lot of damage to the credibility of politics. The same goes for the reform of justice. There is impunity, a lack of justice in the territories, we must move towards a more efficient system. And in terms of territorial order, neither power nor the budget can continue to be managed from the capital. Here we evade the problems, we have been talking about this for 15 years. We want to resolve the underlying problems without making the reforms that are needed. Processing these reforms in Congress has not been easy, but if we agree and move forward on minimal points and decide to do it through there and not through the extraordinary mechanism of the constituent assembly, then welcome.
P. What is the relationship between the current political system and corruption scandals such as the one at UNGRD?
R. These scandals are the result of a fundamental problem: the weakening of political parties, preferential voting, the campaign financing system. That is the origin of all the problems, but we have not wanted to understand it. We get carried away by the scandal of the moment, we look for and atone for our faults in those responsible, but people pass by and everything remains the same. If we do not change the way Congress is elected, the corruption scandals will never end. If there are no strong parties, with a single closed list and with a public and transparent campaign financing system, clientelism will continue. We must try to build a system that allows politics to be exercised in a different way, that defends ideals and proposals.
P. Despite this, do you think it is possible to pass social reforms today without offering positions and contracts to congressmen?
R. Yes, I am totally convinced. I think we are ready to negotiate. These scandals do a lot of damage to Congress and the Government, but I am confident that with an understanding of ideas and dialogue, people will vote with their conscience. Let us not confuse the exchange of favors, the granting of contracts, transactions, which is what must be eradicated, with the political representation of the parties in the government, that is absolutely legitimate.
P. Are you trying to rebuild the great legislative coalition that existed at the beginning of the Government?
R. We are talking to all parties. We treat them with great respect, the independents, those in government and the opposition. The first exercise is to socialize the legislative agenda. Starting this week we are going to meet with all the parties so that they join the national agreement. In the relationship with Congress there is no unique strategy, nor a magic formula. I believe that building a very broad coalition of parties, as happened at the beginning, without identifying the agenda, ends with deep fundamental differences because there were sectors that did not share the reforms. That is legitimate and valid in any democratic system. What we want is to socialize the projects with parties that have greater affinity with the Government and try to implement the reforms by parties.
P. Specifically, with the Conservative Party, the Liberals and the U?
R. Yes, exactly, but we are also going to talk with Cambio Radical and the Democratic Centre. I refuse to believe that we cannot agree on some issues.
P. What is the difference between your current mission and what you did as Interior Minister under former President Juan Manuel Santos?
R. The country is different, the government is different and I have matured, I see things more calmly. Regardless of the evaluation made of the Petro government, I believe that the arrival of the democratic left to power in Colombia has been very positive, very important and will have an enormous impact on democracy in the future. It was a message to many sectors of society, traditionally marginalized, that in democracy they can become the government.
P. How do you analyze Petro’s two years in power?
R. It is no secret that I am not a leftist and I do not think like President Petro on many issues. I am a liberal, a social democrat. I like the reforms and the agenda, but I have reservations about other things. I think that Petro’s coming to power was a tremor, and after two years we still feel the aftershocks and we are adjusting. We have not become like Venezuela, they have not expropriated anyone, and whoever continues to say that Petro wants to remain in power is because they are in a political campaign. In short, I think that the establishment of this country has had a hard time getting used to being in opposition and the democratic left has had a hard time getting used to governing, to being in power.
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