Clashes with centrist allies threaten Petro’s ambitious reform agenda

Colombian President Gustavo Petro wanted to do it all in 2023.

Despite lacking his own congressional majority, he began the year by announcing that he would push through reforms in some of the most important areas of any country, including bills to redraw Colombia’s health and pension systems, labor laws, and its party politics.

Mr. Petro’s proposals had some common denominators, in line with his mandate as the first clearly left-wing president in the country’s history: greater state intervention, a push for income redistribution, and an expansion of rights for groups seen as historically disadvantaged.

But while the proposals were central to the agenda of Mr. Petro’s Historic Pact coalition, they raised some questions among centrist allies — whose congressional support Mr. Petro relied on in 2022, his first year in office. 

The first bill in line was an overhaul of the country’s health care system. The effort was led by Mr. Petro’s Health Minister Carolina Corcho, who wanted to eliminate private health insurers — known in Colombia as EPSs — and replace them with a much more government-centered approach to healthcare. 

The proposal came with added costs for new infrastructure, the creation of state agencies, a new state-controlled EPS, benefits for healthcare workers, and more, which raised questions about its fiscal sustainability in a country that suffers from chronic public deficits. This, along with the reduction of several private sector options, led to a backlash against the bill.

Key government members, including Economy Minister José Antonio Ocampo and Liberal Party ally and Education Minister Alejandro Gaviria, expressed their...