President Gustavo Petro is preparing a new change to his cabinet: next week he will bring to an end Andrés Idárraga’s tenure at the helm of the Ministry of Justice and appoint Jorge Iván Cuervo, a lawyer specializing in public law and social policy. With this decision, the government will close a chapter marked by interim leadership and internal tensions in one of the Executive’s most sensitive ministries.
Idárraga has led the ministry over the past three months in an acting capacity, following the resignation of Luis Eduardo Montealegre. His departure had been anticipated for weeks and reflects the president’s intention to finally appoint a permanent minister, with a profile more focused on management and institutional coordination.
Despite his interim mandate, it is worth highlighting the various confrontations Idárraga had with other members of the government during his short time leading the ministry. At the same time, it is notable that Idárraga’s exit comes just days before Petro’s pivotal meeting with the U.S. president. In that meeting, one of the most sensitive points on the agenda is expected to be Colombia’s situation regarding coca crops and cocaine production.
Colombia’s Petro fires Justice Minister Idarraga after just 3 months in office
Andrés Idárraga took over the Ministry of Justice on an interim basis last November, amid a new government crisis triggered by the departure of influential minister Montealegre, who resigned after a second-instance court decision acquitted former president Uribe, following his conviction months earlier by a Bogotá circuit court judge.
Montealegre’s departure left a key ministry for the government’s agenda vacant, and the interim appointment lasted longer than initially expected. During that period, Idárraga simultaneously retained his post as Presidential Transparency Secretary, giving him a visible role within the Executive.
His time at the ministry was marked by a direct and confrontational style that generated friction with other government officials and with institutions in the justice sector. Internal differences became public in several episodes and ultimately weakened his position as acting minister. Although the Presidency valued his anti-corruption rhetoric and technical profile, the idea also took hold that the ministry needed more stable and less conflict-prone leadership.
The prolonged interim period had effects on the ministry’s day-to-day management. Issues such as penitentiary policy, relations with the judiciary, and oversight of legislative initiatives moved forward without a clear direction. In that context, the government chose to end the interim appointment and move toward a definitive replacement.
The controversies and clashes involving Minister Idarraga
During the just over three months Andrés Idárraga spent at the Ministry of Justice, controversy followed the management of this Bogotá-born lawyer and political scientist. Among them, his open disagreements with Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez stand out. Idárraga said he did not trust Sánchez and went so far as to accuse the Defense Ministry of spying on him using Pegasus software.
This lack of alignment between two key ministers in the fight against narco-terrorism is believed to have been decisive in President Petro’s decision to dispense with the head of the Justice Ministry.
Nevertheless, Idárraga was also critical of other state entities. Among these were his strong accusations against the prison system authority, INPEC, following claims by El Salvador’s president about cases of extortion in his country carried out through phone calls from prisons in Colombia.
In addition, the minister said that most signal jammers installed in prisons do not work and stated that Colombia has gone more than 12 years — including three years under the Petro government — without any investment being made to improve communications in detention centers.
He was equally critical of the Attorney General’s Office, questioning the lack of progress in investigations into what happened with the escape of alias Matamba — a drug trafficker who was killed by security forces two months later — from Bogotá’s La Picota prison.
Finally, Idárraga’s confrontations extended to the director of the National Protection Unit (UNP), Augusto Rodríguez, after the Attorney General’s Office overturned an indictment hearing over Rodríguez’s alleged interference in changes made to the security detail of Miguel Uribe Turbay, an opposition presidential hopeful who was assassinated by a hitman in the capital.
The reshuffle Petro is preparing for the final stretch of his term
The man chosen to take over the Ministry of Justice is Jorge Iván Cuervo, a lawyer with a career in the public sector and experience in public law, human rights, and social policy. His name has gained traction in recent weeks as an option to normalize the ministry’s operations and reduce internal tensions.
Cuervo has developed his career between academia and various state institutions, allowing him to build a more technical and less media-driven profile. Government officials highlight his knowledge of public policy design and his ability to engage in dialogue with different sectors — a key asset in a ministry that must coordinate with judges, prosecutors, Congress, and other branches of government.
The appointment of a permanent minister seeks to send a signal of stability at a complex moment for the Executive, as President Petro enters the final stretch of his term. The justice agenda remains one of the government’s most sensitive areas, both because of debates over the prison system and due to pending reforms and relations with oversight bodies.
Starting next week, Idárraga will return to his duties as Transparency Secretary, a role from which he has played an active part in filing complaints and issuing warnings about potential irregularities within the state. His stint at the Ministry of Justice will be remembered as brief and marked more by confrontation than by concrete advances in sector policy.
The new minister will take office facing the challenge of rebuilding internal relationships and ensuring continuity on pending issues. These include the prison crisis, coordination with the Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court, and the implementation of policies aimed at fulfilling the government’s promises of change.