The tension between the regions and the Casa de Nariño reached its peak this Monday, January 19, after the failure of the high-level summit held at the Ministry of Finance. Despite the fact that Minister Germán Ávila and the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, tried to calm the spirits of the local leaders, the meeting ended without white smoke.
The reason for the disagreement is Decree 1474 of 2025, the economic emergency, a regulation that, according to the departments, deals a mortal blow to the transferred income that finances critical sectors such as health and education in the regions.
At the meeting, where the director of the DIAN, Carlos Emilio Betancourt, and the director of the FND, Didier Tavera, were also present, the governors were emphatic that they will not allow the Executive to centralize resources that constitutionally belong to them.
The main concern lies in the increase in the Consumption Tax and VAT on liquor and cigarettes, a measure that, far from cleaning up national finances, would be emptying the pockets of territorial entities. The leaders warned that these incomes are the only financial oxygen they have to guarantee sports and hospital care in the most remote areas of the country.
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Given the lack of agreements and what they consider a violation of regional autonomy, the governors announced that they will immediately file a request with the Constitutional Court to provisionally suspend the effects of the decree.
The upcoming legal battle tests the relationship of the national government with the territories, which now feel betrayed by the tax measures imposed from Bogotá.
Although the National Federation of Departments assured that they will not withdraw from future dialogue tables, they made it clear that the legal route is irreversible. While the Ministry of Finance seeks to raise more to cover the national deficit, the governors have closed ranks to protect every last peso destined for social investment in their departments.
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