Medellin, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed a new decree increasing the legal minimum wage by 23.7% in Bogota’s Plaza de Bolivar on Thursday evening. This follows the State Council suspending the original wage increase last week.
Petro’s defiant announcement was met with applause from crowds gathered in the Colombian capital, as similar marches and protests were organized in major cities across the country following the president’s call for action this Monday.
The new statutory minimum salary of COP$1,750,905 (USD$480) and transport allowance of COP$249,095 (USD$68) were originally announced on December 29.
However, the Council of State, the highest administrative court, imposed a temporary suspension on February 12, giving the Petro administration eight days to prepare new temporary laws or justify existing ones.
The judiciary said the increase, which did not take into account the inflation rate and productivity stipulated in the 1996 law, lacked “verifiable legal and economic justification.” Ji Ji said the move was “an abuse of power and a violation of the principle of legality.”
This is the first time that a wage increase has been halted in advance following lawsuits filed by business owners, citizens, and labor unions. Colombia’s National Business Association (ANDI) expressed support for the suspension, saying it protects “the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the strength of Colombia’s democratic institutions.”
In a speech Thursday evening, Petro defended the wage increase by highlighting a study by the International Labor Organization that recommends a minimum salary of COP$2,000,000 (US$540) and arguing that the new decree is in line with Congress’s wishes.
The president said he did not want to “do too much” and therefore ordered a wage increase equal to the original December increase.
He also attacked Colombia’s ‘lenders’ and ‘parasites’ who opposed his decisions, claiming they saw business opportunities in ‘every square centimeter’ of the country.
Some conservatives have supported an increase in the minimum wage, including independent presidential candidate Vicky Dávila, who criticized Petro’s “politicized march” ahead of the election period.
Featured Image: Petro in Plaza de Bolivar last Thursday.
Featured image credit: @petrogustavo via X.
