Health Minister Carolina Corcho resigned this Wednesday and was replaced by another minister. Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, Minister of Health for the Municipality of Bogotá.
While it has been rumored that Jaramillo will run for mayor of Bogotá, President Gustavo Petro’s decision changes that reality and puts Jaramillo in charge of leading the transformation of the country’s healthcare system.
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Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo is a native of the municipality of Tolima, Líbano. He was the governor of his hometown twice, in 1986-1987 and 2000-2003. He was also the mayor of Ibagué during 2016-2019.
His father, Alfonso Jaramillo Salazar, was Minister of Health, and thanks to him, he entered politics in the Liberal Party. His mother, Hilda Martínez de Jaramillo, was also linked to politics as a congressman.
Like today’s former minister Corcho, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo has for many years combined his medical profession and interest in politics. The man from Tolima is a surgeon from the Universidad del Rosario. He also has expertise in pediatric cardiovascular surgery.
He started his political life in 1978 as a Deputy of the Assembly of Tolima. He later entered Congress as a Liberal representative. From there he came to the Governor’s office.
After leaving the Liberal party, where his family was active, he came to the Democratic Pole, where he became very close with Gustavo Petro and Antonio Navarro.
Because of this proximity, Jaramillo was appointed Minister of Health of Bogotá for the Mayor of Petro in 2011. He was later appointed as Government Secretary in 2013.
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He stepped down in 2014 to say ‘no’ to Petro’s recall as Mayor.
Jaramillo tried to run for mayor of Bogotá in 2014, but eventually withdrew from the race and later returned to Ibagué. In 2015, he ran for mayor of that city with the support of Movimiento Alternativo Indígena y Social (Mais), and his brother, former Bogotá councilor and former senator Mauricio Jaramillo, ran for governor of Tolima for the Liberal Party.
At the time, Guillermo Alfonso told EL TIEMPO that he saw “no obstacle” in the two brothers’ pursuit of the two highest political positions in Tolima, and that his main interest was “to serve” and he believed his brother Mauricio had everything. the right to be the next governor.
EDWIN CAICEDO | HEALTH UNIT
Source: Exame
