BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday named General Pedro Sanchez as the Andean country’s new defense minister, replacing Ivan Velasquez amid a cabinet reshuffle that saw a number of ministers resign.
Petro asked all his ministers to present their resignations earlier this month, after a tense televised cabinet meeting led some officials to step down.
Sanchez will be the first military official in the role in more than three decades.
Since 1991, civilians – mostly career politicians – have held the post.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin;)
