Carolina Corcho
Carolina Corcho | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Senator of Colombia | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2026 | |
| Minister of Health and Social Protection | |
| In office 7 August 2022 – 26 April 2023 | |
| President | Gustavo Petro |
| Preceded by | Fernando Ruiz |
| Succeeded by | Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía 13 April 1983 |
| Party | Historic Pact (2025–present) |
Other political affiliations |
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| Education | |
| Occupation | |
Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía (born 13 April 1983) is a Colombian political scientist, psychiatrist, physician, professor, and politician who has served as a Senator of Colombia since 2026. A member of the Historic Pact, Corcho served as Minister of health and social protection from 2022 to 2023 under President Gustavo Petro.[1][2][3]
Born in Medellín, Antioquia, she studied psychiatry at the University of Antioquia. She later earned a master's degree in psychiatry from the Pontifical Bolivarian University. She worked on Gustavo Petro 2022 presidential campaign. After the 2022 elections, she joined the transition team and was later appointed Minister of Health by President-elect Gustavo Petro. She was the second woman to hold the position after Beatriz Londoño in 2012.
In 2025, she would be part of the primary election organized by the Historic Pact, where she would obtain the second best vote, which made her the head of the list for the senate in the 2026 legislative elections.
Early life
[edit]Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía was born on Medellín, Antioquia on April 13, 1983, to Professor Freddy Hernán Corcho and politician Amparo Mejía.[4][5] Her father was a member of the Antioquia Departmental Assembly. Her mother is an engineer and served as Mayor of Zaragoza, Antioquia.
She studied medicine at the University of Antioquia. She studied psychiatry at the National University of Colombia and later earned a master's degree in political science from the Pontifical Bolivarian University.[6][7][8]
Activism and political career
[edit]Corcho's activism began in 2013 while serving as president of the national association of interns and residents. Her political activism included efforts to save the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Medellín by invoking the statutory health law.[9] Corcho was a staunch opponent of the health reform proposed by Minister Alejandro Gaviria.
Following the media attention her activism received, Corcho gained notoriety, attracting the attention of Bogotá's mayor, Gustavo Petro, who later appointed her Social Secretary at the Bogotá Health Secretariat, a position she held from 2014 to 2016. She subsequently served as president of the Southern Latin American Corporation, responsible for various public policies, including agriculture, the economy, health, and human rights. Later, in 2022, she co-founded the Latin American Progressive Women's Network.
In 2022, after the presidential election, she was appointed as a member of the transition team.[10][11]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud en el gobierno de Gustavo Petro?". Radio Nacional de Colombia. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ↑ ""Quizás hemos normalizado la muerte": Carolina Corcho". conexion.uexternado.edu.co. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "Carolina Corcho, Cecilia López y Susana Muhamad se suman al Gabinete de Gustavo Petro". W Radio. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía". La Silla Vacía. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "Carolina Corcho la medica activista que lidera la oposicion a la reforma a la salud". Las2orillas. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "Carolina Corcho, la médica y activista detrás del vuelco a la salud que busca el Gobierno Petro". Forbes. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud de Petro, y por qué sus declaraciones han causado polémica?". CNN en Español. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud de Gustavo Petro?". El Espectador. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ "Carolina Corcho, ministra de Salud y Protección Social". Señal Memoria. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ↑ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, del equipo de empalme de Petro?". El Colombiano. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ↑ "Este es el perfil de Carolina Corcho, la nueva ministra de Salud de Gustavo Petro". Semana. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Carolina Corcho at Wikimedia Commons
- 1983 births
- Living people
- People from Medellín
- Politicians from Antioquia Department
- Members of the Senate of Colombia
- Government ministers of Colombia
- Petro administration cabinet members
- Women government ministers of Colombia
- Ministers of health and social protection of Colombia
- 21st-century Colombian politicians
- 21st-century Colombian women politicians
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana alumni
- Universidad Externado de Colombia alumni
- National University of Colombia alumni
- Colombian women activists
- Colombian women human rights activists
- Colombian women political scientists
- Colombian political scientists
- Colombian women psychiatrists
- Health activists
- Colombian health activists
- 21st-century Colombian women civil servants
- 21st-century Colombian civil servants
- People associated with the 2022 Colombian presidential election
- People associated with the 2026 Colombian presidential election
- Historic Pact politicians