Radical Change responded to President Gustavo Petro's speech, in which he spoke about the health system crisis.

The Cambio Radical party responded to the presidential address on July 15 , in which President Gustavo Petro primarily referred to the Comptroller's Office report on the EPS debt to hospitals and clinics.

The group warned that "the country is crying out for solutions, not empty rhetoric," and noted that "the three years of Gustavo Petro's administration have been marked by total improvisation," in addition to demanding "real and achievable proposals."

The ones in charge of delivering the response were Senator Carlos Fernando Motoa and Representative Julio César Triana, who denounced the government's instigation of the health system crisis . They also demanded an immediate end to the president's systematic disrespect for democratic institutions.

“Your speech was a show full of lies to hide the disaster you've turned the healthcare system into. We will exercise our right of reply to dismantle, point by point, your delusional narrative. Mr. President, not everything can be solved with propaganda. In 2024, Colombia broke a record for health protection cases: 265,173. People are suffering the collapse of the system while you manipulate figures,” was the representative's message before his reply.

For his part, in the opposition's response, Motoa warned: "What thousands of patients are experiencing today is not a systemic error; it is the consequence of a government that decided to let public health die in order to impose its ideology." He recalled that, until 2022, Colombia had coverage above 98% and low out-of-pocket costs, and denounced how government underfunding had sunk two large EPSs and turned the National Fund for Teachers' Social Benefits (FOMAG) into a "failed pilot program."

For his part, Representative Triana described the presidential intervention as a "shameful spectacle" of confrontation and lamented the use of the speeches to attack institutions, Congress, and the Constitutional Court. Through these interventions, he asserted, the president also demonstrates his contempt for the opposition: "We remind you, Mr. President, that political violence against the opposition is not an invention. Figures from the Electoral Observation Mission warn of 134 acts of violence in the first half of the year alone."

The members of the Cambio Radical party recalled that, before the current crisis, the party presented a comprehensive, mixed reform of the health system, designed to correct its shortcomings without dismantling it, ensuring its financial sustainability and the inclusion of all stakeholders: academics, experts, patients, and the private sector.

Regarding this bill, they asserted that the Petrista party chose to block the initiative. "Even so, they insisted that it is possible to revive the bill, open a serious debate in committees , and bring solutions to the Senate floor before the end of the year," they stated.

In its response, the party reaffirmed that Colombia needs calm leadership, technical dialogue, and real consensus, not whims, improvisations, or empty speeches. “ In Radical Change, we are not opposed to change; we are opposed to chaos. To improvisation. To irresponsibility. Colombians, let us resist. There is only one year left. And remember: in 2026, change will be radical,” emphasized representative Julio César Triana.

Maria Alejandra Gonzalez Duarte