Colombia’s education minister resigns after less than a month – Colombia News

Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella replaced his education minister after she resigned, claiming “an unexpected family situation.”

De la Espriella announced on social media platform X that he had accepted the resignation of the evangelical Education Minister Viviane Morales, who took office on August 7, the first day of the administration.

I bid a nostalgic farewell to my dear friend Viviane Morales. God’s designs are inscrutable, and she must leave us early to take charge of a personal situation that I sincerely hope she can resolve very soon.

President Viviana Morales

In the same post, De la Espriella said he had appointed Ilva Myriam Hoyos, stressing that “I am confident that she will be an outstanding minister and that she will serve Colombia with dedication, character, and conviction.”

While in office, Morales lead the government’s Culture War in education and vowed to remove “gender ideology” from Colombia’s classrooms, and proposed a law that would allow churches to provide public education services.

Hoyos, a catholic, warned in 2016 that a peace deal between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC promoted gender ideology.

The new education minister used to work with Alejandro Ordoñez, Colombia’s notoriously far-right former Inspector General and the country’s current ambassador to the Organization of American States.