Latest news with #ArmandoBenedetti
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court says Colombia lower house must re-do vote on pension reform
BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia's constitutional court said in a ruling on Tuesday that the country's lower house must re-do a vote on a major pension reform approved last year because of a procedural irregularity, though it did not rule on the law's constitutionality. The law, approved by the lower house in June 2024 after prior approval in the Senate, is meant to strengthen state pension fund Colpensiones, reduce subsidies and increase coverage for those without sufficient savings. The bill was meant to come into force next month, but will not be valid until the court approves it, the ruling added. "With the intent of compensating for the procedural irregularity which occurred," lawmakers in the lower house must vote on the text of the law approved by the Senate and already published in the official gazette, the ruling said. The lower house has 30 days, counted only when it is in session, to conduct the vote, it added. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told reporters President Gustavo Petro would call extra sessions, as the current legislative session ends on Friday. "The pension reform has been saved," Petro said on X. "I ask the lower house to discuss in depth the article which would approve the Senate's text and to back it."
Reuters
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Court says Colombia lower house must re-do vote on pension reform
BOGOTA, June 17 (Reuters) - Colombia's constitutional court said in a ruling on Tuesday that the country's lower house must re-do a vote on a major pension reform approved last year because of a procedural irregularity, though it did not rule on the law's constitutionality. The law, approved by the lower house in June 2024 after prior approval in the Senate, is meant to strengthen state pension fund Colpensiones, reduce subsidies and increase coverage for those without sufficient savings. The bill was meant to come into force next month, but will not be valid until the court approves it, the ruling added. "With the intent of compensating for the procedural irregularity which occurred," lawmakers in the lower house must vote on the text of the law approved by the Senate and already published in the official gazette, the ruling said. The lower house has 30 days, counted only when it is in session, to conduct the vote, it added. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told reporters President Gustavo Petro would call extra sessions, as the current legislative session ends on Friday. "The pension reform has been saved," Petro said on X. "I ask the lower house to discuss in depth the article which would approve the Senate's text and to back it."
Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Court says Colombia lower house must re-do vote on pension reform
BOGOTA - Colombia's constitutional court said in a ruling on Tuesday that the country's lower house must re-do a vote on a major pension reform approved last year because of a procedural irregularity, though it did not rule on the law's constitutionality. The law, approved by the lower house in June 2024 after prior approval in the Senate, is meant to strengthen state pension fund Colpensiones, reduce subsidies and increase coverage for those without sufficient savings. The bill was meant to come into force next month, but will not be valid until the court approves it, the ruling added. "With the intent of compensating for the procedural irregularity which occurred," lawmakers in the lower house must vote on the text of the law approved by the Senate and already published in the official gazette, the ruling said. The lower house has 30 days, counted only when it is in session, to conduct the vote, it added. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told reporters President Gustavo Petro would call extra sessions, as the current legislative session ends on Friday. "The pension reform has been saved," Petro said on X. "I ask the lower house to discuss in depth the article which would approve the Senate's text and to back it." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Colombia's Petro signs decree to hold labor reform referendum
BOGOTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday signed a decree to hold a public referendum vote on a labor reform. The referendum proposal seeks to limit the working day, increase the surcharge for Sunday and holiday work from 75% to 100% and require social security payments for delivery app drivers. "If the law comes out just as the Senate says, with no imposition, then there would be a repeal of the decree," Interior Minister Armando Benedetti told reporters.
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Seven dead as Colombia hit with wave of bombings and gun attacks
Colombia was rocked by a string of 24 coordinated bomb and gun attacks that killed at least seven people across the country's southwest Tuesday, deepening a security crisis roiling the Andean nation. Attackers struck targets in Cali -- the country's third-largest city -- and several nearby towns, hitting police posts, municipal buildings and civilian targets. National Police chief Carlos Fernando Triana said assailants -- suspected to be a local guerrilla group -- had attacked using car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone. "There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead," he said. Police later put the toll at seven dead and 28 more injured. In Cali and the towns of Villa Rica, Guachinte and Corinto, AFP journalists witnessed the tangled wreckage of vehicle bombs surrounded by scorched debris and damaged buildings. The attacks came days after a brazen attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in Bogota that has put the country on edge. Many Colombians are now fearful of a return to the violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks, guerrilla violence and political assassinations were commonplace. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said the government had received unverified "proof" of possible guerrilla involvement in the attack on Senator Miguel Uribe. - 'Well-coordinated offensive' - In the town of Corinto, resident Luz Amparo was at home when the blast gutted her bakery Tuesday. "We thought it was an earthquake," she told AFP. "My husband said 'no, they are shooting.'" Her phone began to ring off the hook and she went to check on her store. As she rounded the corner, the neighbors began to look in her direction. "Everything was leveled," she said. Police and experts blamed the attacks on a dissident faction of the once-powerful FARC guerrilla group. Security expert Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group said the attacks were likely the work of a group known as the Central General Staff (EMC). "This is a particularly well-coordinated offensive. It really demonstrates the capacity that the group has built" she told AFP. "And I think very alarmingly it demonstrates their ability to conduct operations in the metropolitan area of Cali." Efforts by President Gustavo Petro to reach a peace deal with the EMC and other armed groups have repeatedly failed. Dickinson said the group may be trying to stop an ongoing military operation that is reported to have injured or killed the group's veteran leader, known as "Ivan Mordisco." "They are trying to raise the cost of that military initiative for the government," said Dickinson. In a statement on Tuesday, the EMC warned the public to stay away from military and police installations, but stopped short of claiming responsibility. The attacks come three days after conservative senator Uribe, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by an alleged hitman while campaigning in the capital. A 15-year-old suspect pleaded "not guilty" on Tuesday to carrying out the attempted assassination. The government believes he was a hired gun. That attack has stunned Colombians, prompted speculation about who was responsible and raised questions about the president's response. Petro has taken to social media to speculate that the hit was ordered by an international "mafia" and to claim that Uribe's security detail was suspiciously reduced the day he was shot.
