A political scientist and former porn actor will be President Gustavo Petro's new Minister of Equality, a controversial choice amid recurring cabinet changes in the government.

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Juan Carlos Florián, who openly acknowledges being a sex worker and creator of pornographic content, was chosen by the president to lead a ministry he created in 2023 to guarantee access to social programs for the most vulnerable communities.

The Ministry of Equality was a campaign promise of Vice President Francia Márquez, the first African American woman to hold that position in the country's history.

More than 50 ministers have passed through the president's cabinet, amid crises that have been captured in live televised meetings.

Márquez took over as head of the ministry, but left in February after disagreements with Petro and allegations of"racism" in the government.

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She was replaced by Carlos Rosero, another Afro-Colombian leader, but the president reprimanded him in a televised cabinet meeting for allegedly trying to fire Florián, who was then a deputy minister. He also reprimanded him for removing another public official and former porn actress from her position.

"What there is is an internal fight in the Ministry of Equality, you are throwing out my officials," Petro told him.

On that occasion, the president referred to Florián as a"porn actor" who worked with him when he was mayor of Bogotá and "created" a "sex workers union" in France, where he lived after leaving the country claiming persecution.

Florián and other former collaborators"had to go into exile and prostitute themselves in Paris," said Petro.

The political scientist rejected the commotion caused by his appointment as deputy minister in an interview with the newspaper El Espectador published in January.

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"I have been more than a porn actor," "I have more than 20 years of work experience in different international cooperation organizations and I was a public servant," said the current minister.

"Sex work is a job like any other and you can't attack the people who do it, they recognize it and are part of the working class because that's how they support their families."