Since the start of Gustavo Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign, he has asserted that government intervention is the only effective solution to the corruption he blames on privatized enterprises. As Colombia’s first left-wing president in recent history, Petro’s campaign has relentlessly campaigned with an emphasis on his resolve to tackle deepening economic inequalities exacerbated by the conservative right’s failures. His inauguration on August 7, 2022, marked a promising shift for Colombia: a restoration of trust in the presidency after Iván Duque’s administration, which was marred by rampant political corruption and violent suppression of protests in Cali. His inauguration on August 7, 2022 marked a promising shift for Colombia: a restoration of trust in the presidency after Iván Duque’s administration, which was marred by rampant political corruption and violent suppression of protests in Cali. Duque’s heavy-handed response, which involved deploying the Colombian army and resulted in the deaths of over five civilians, alongside his ineffective tax plan that burdened the middle class, left a legacy of economic mismanagement and repression.
Now that Gustavo Petro has been President for over two years, has he genuinely achieved the sweeping social reforms he pledged? Has he upheld his status as a decisive force for profound and effective systemic change in Colombia?
One of the major public sectors Gustavo Petro has targeted for reform is healthcare. After aggressively pushing for the passage of his healthcare reform bill, Bill 339 of 2023, through Congress, the bill was decisively shelved by senators on April 3rd. Petro’s aim was to overhaul the system by eliminating private insurance companies and centralizing healthcare coverage and expenditure under the national government. The defeat of Bill 339 of 2023 in the Senate marks a critical moment in exposing both how private investor’s view Petro’s willingness to contribute with the private sector and how the broader Colombian public views. The concrete effectiveness of the Petro administration in addressing the issues he urged to resolve during his campaign season.
Petro’s response to the Senate’s rejection of his healthcare reform proposal was marked by two aggressive actions against both his cabinet and the private sector.
On April 3rd, immediately following the Senate’s dismissal of his bill, he launched a sweeping purge of his own cabinet. He demanded the resignation of José Antonio Ocampo, one of Colombia’s most esteemed finance ministers, along with the ministers of transportation, health, agriculture, interior, communication, and science. This drastic overhaul underscored his frustration and desperation, highlighting a chaotic response to the growing perception of his administration’s ineffectiveness.
Just days after the Senate shelved Bill 339 of 2023, Petro took decisive executive action through the Superintendent of Health (Supersalud), demanding the immediate replacement of the leadership at the two largest private health insurers, Sanitas and Nueva EPS. His move aimed to overhaul their management and funding issues, ostensibly to prevent their collapse. In response to Petro’s controversial interventions in the private sector, former Finance Minister José A. Ocampo criticized the approach, stating, “The response to the failure of the health reform, which the government was unable to agree on, should not be to take over the system—first with New EPS and now with Sanitas.”
Colombia’s healthcare system is often praised as a well-oiled machine. For over 30 years, it has maintained some of the lowest out-of-pocket costs for in-hospital treatments and prescriptions through the collaboration of the national government, private health insurers, and intermediary organizations.
While the system has notable flaws, such as uneven access and care in rural areas, Petro’s approach of deliberately undermining private companies like Sanitas and Nueva EPS’ role in maintaining the current health system function is dangerously misguided. His strategy to destabilize these firms to justify his push for nationalized healthcare, under his general disdain for privatized institutions, is reckless and threatens the very foundation of Colombia’s healthcare system.
Petro’s bill to ramp up national health spending, without securing additional revenue, is a reckless move that will further shatter an already fragile healthcare system and drive-up costs for Colombians. Gustavo Petro’s interventionist tactics, driven by ideological goals rather than practical reforms, are disastrously undermining Colombia’s healthcare system. With sluggish economic growth, a $5 billion cut in public spending, and 7% inflation, the government is financially incapable of managing the escalating demands of the social sector. Petro’s approach is eroding public trust, jeopardizing healthcare quality, and scaring off critical investment, exacerbating the very problems it claims to address.
Gustavo Petro, once a beacon of hope for Colombia in 2022, has become just another politician failing to deliver. Reforming Colombia’s healthcare system needs more than his sweeping interventionism; it needs a thoughtful strategy that balances private companies and bureaucratic organizations, along with gradual government oversight and real compromises. Ultimately, Colombia needs a leader who prioritizes the nation’s welfare over their own political ideology.
Sarai Garcia ‘27 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at g.sarai@wustl.edu.