The Council of Ministers of the

Republic of Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast ...

is composed of the most senior appointed politicians of the executive branch of the

Government of Colombia The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches. Its legislature has a congress, its judiciary has a supreme court, and its executive branch has a president. The citi ...

. Members of the Cabinet are generally the heads of a Ministry Department. The existence of the Cabinet dates back to the first President Simon Bolivar. These members were appointed in order to advise the President and are therefore required to assist him in his duties as stated by the Colombian Constitution.

Current Cabinet

The Cabinet of President Gustavo Petro.

History

19th century

In the Constitution of 1821,

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

created a Cabinet composed of five secretariats: * Secretariat of the Interior * Secretariat of the Exterior * Secretariat of War and Navy * Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit With time, areas of some secretariats were given to new institutions; in the mid-19th century, when the Secretariat of Trade was created, this deprived the Secretariat of the Exterior (then renamed Foreign Affairs) of that function. In 1886, President Rafael Núñez changed their nomenclature from secretariats to ministries, and created new ones, so, in the beginning of the 20th century, after the Thousand Days War, the Council of ministers was composed of: * Ministry of the Government * Ministry of Justice * Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Ministry of War * Ministry of Finance * Ministry of the Treasury * 1894 - The Ministry of Justice is disbanded. The Secretary of Trade disappeared; its assignments were transferred to the Vice Ministry of Development, under the control of the Minister of Finance.

20th century

;1990's * 1991 - The Ministry of Foreign Trade is created. * 1992 - The Ministry of Public Works and Transport is renamed

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. * 1993 - The Ministry of Justice is renamed Ministry of Justice and Law. * 1993 - The Ministry of Environment is created. * 1996 - The Ministry of Government is renamed the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. * 1997 - The

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

is created. ;Ministries by the end of the 20th Century * Ministry of the Interior * Ministry of Finance and Public Credit * Ministry of Justice and Law * Ministry of National Defence * Ministry of Health and Social Security * Ministry of Labour * Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development * Ministry of Foreign Trade * Ministry of National Education * Ministry of Mines and Energy * Ministry of Transport * Ministry of Communications * Ministry of Environment * Ministry of Economic Development * Ministry of Culture

21st Century

;2000's During the first administration of President

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

, Congress and the President passed Law 790 of 2002, which modified the existing ministries by merging and reducing their number to 13. In accordance with Article 7, the Ministries in order and precedence were then thus: *

Ministry of the Interior and Justice The Ministry of the Interior and Justice (, or MIJ), was at ministries of Colombia, national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for the enforcement of both law and administration of justice, equivalent to the Justice mi ...

** Merging the Ministry of Justice and Law with the Ministry of the Interior. *

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Ministry of Finance and Public Credit The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (), is the ministries of Colombia, national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for the financial and budgetary matters of the country as well as implementing the financial polici ...

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

* Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development *

Ministry of Social Protection The Ministry of Social Protection () was a ministries of Colombia, national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for coordinating and implementing the national policy and social services relating to employment, labour, He ...

** Merging the Ministry of Labour and Social Security with the Ministry of Health. * Ministry of Mines and Energy * Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism ** Merging the Ministry of Foreign Trade with the Ministry of Economic Development. * Ministry of National Education * Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development ** The Ministry of the Environment is enhanced and assigned matters of potable water, land use, sanitation, and rural development. * Ministry of Communications *

* 2009 - Passed on July 30, 2009, Law 1341 of 2009 redefined the Ministry of Communications and transformed it into the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. ;2010's * 2011 - The Ministry of the Interior and Justice is once again divided into the

and Ministry of Justice and Law. * 2011 - The Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development is divided into the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Housing, City and Territory. * 2011 - The Ministry of Social Protection is divided into the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Timeline of the Council of Ministers

Abbreviations used: Agr./Liv. - Agriculture and Livestock; Env./Hous./Terr. - Environment, housing and territorial development; Ind./Lab. - Industry and Labour; ICT - Information and communication technologies; Lab./Hyg./Soc. - Labour, hygiene and social protection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Ministers Of Colombia Government of Colombia Government ministries of Colombia National cabinets