The two major scandals that shook Gustavo Petro’s government in Colombia, in its first year

The recent scandals involving Colombian President Gustavo Petro have undermined his legitimacy in the decisions taken by the executive of the Andean country, as in addition to the government’s setbacks in negotiations with other political movements, two situations — one involving his employees and the other his son — affected its image among public opinion.

This is the observation of risk analyst for Colombia, Laura Lizarazo, from Control Risks, in an interview with CNN Español.

“The scandals, as well as the adoption of a more severe tone after the premature end of the government coalition, wore him down in this first year at the helm of the presidency”, points out Lizarazo, adding that the president is appealing more frequently and in a very more open to a much more dogmatic tone, to a much more conflicted rhetoric.

“And that, in addition to the corruption scandals that surrounded his last months in office, has implied a very important deterioration in the levels of favorability by the citizens, in the levels of credibility, in the political capital and, of course, as a consequence, in his governability”, strengthened.

After the scandals came to light, the president said he respects the decisions of justice and, in the case of the investigation of his son — Nicolás Petro — for alleged money laundering and illicit enrichment, he said he will not interfere in the investigations.

In that one year of government, Petro went from being president of reforms, with a coalition of parties that promised governance, to a combative president who is fighting in Congress after successive setbacks of his reforms, which forced him to replace more than 50% of his cabinet. ministerial in less than a year.

The capture of his son Nicolás Petro for alleged illicit enrichment

President Gustavo Petro announced on July 29 the capture of his eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, for alleged crimes of money laundering and illicit enrichment: “I will not intervene or pressure your decisions; let the law freely guide the process”.

The words of the president, who wished his son “good luck and strength”, came shortly after the Public Ministry arrested Petro Burgos and his ex-wife Day Vásquez in Barranquilla, investigated for money laundering and violation of personal data, in an investigation that began in March, when Petro Burgos was accused of taking money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father’s efforts to negotiate peace with criminal organizations in the Caribbean region.

That same month, Petro asked Colombia’s attorney general to investigate the corruption allegation of Vásquez, who mentioned his brother Fernando Petro Urrego and his eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, in an interview with Semana magazine.

Vásquez told the magazine that Petro Burgos received large sums of money from former drug traffickers, politicians and other individuals investigated and convicted of corruption. Vásquez also revealed that he had already spoken about it to the president and that Gustavo Petro “had no idea” of the alleged facts, but that he was very disappointed with the alleged conduct of his son and his brother.

The president’s son said before he was arrested that the charges against him were political attacks. But this Tuesday (8), during a hearing, he said he will collaborate with justice and point out the others involved in the crimes.

“We decided to start a collaboration process where I will refer to new facts and situations that will help justice. I do this for my family and for my baby who is on the way”, said Petro Burgos.

Petro Burgos’ defense said that they will help “in clarifying new facts and in the involvement of other matters that are not known to the Public Prosecutor’s Office” to help “the administration of justice”.

On Friday (14), after a long hearing, a judge determined that Petro Burgos will answer for money laundering and illicit enrichment, but in freedom. His ex-wife Day Vásquez also received the benefit, formally known as a “non-custodial measure”. However, the two must meet a number of conditions, including not leaving the country.

Although the accusations against Petro’s son will not affect the president judicially, it will be a blow to his legitimacy, according to analysts.

“This is a deep indictment for Gustavo Petro,” criminal attorney Fabio Humar told CNN. “The trajectory of President Gustavo Petro is deeply entangled. There are already those who say that, for example, the president will not be able to deliver a list of candidates for Attorney General of the Republic because his son is involved in these issues and that should happen in the coming months.”

Shootings, fights and two employees involved in a corruption scandal

In June of this year, the Petro government faced accusations of illegal wiretapping of two officials in a case that included the alleged theft of a briefcase containing US$7,000, threats by Colombia’s ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Bennedetti, to make a big scandal with information about the government, and even an extortion attempt by the official.

The case:

Marelbys Meza, former employee of Laura Sarabia, Petro’s former chief of staff, assured in an interview with Semana magazine that she was the victim of irregularities after the alleged theft of US$ 7,000 from a briefcase that was in Sarabia’s apartment. That event would have taken place on January 29.

According to Meza’s version, the following day she was taken to a building opposite the Casa de Nariño, the seat of government, where she was interrogated about the events and also subjected to a polygraph (lie detector) test, apparently by presidential security.

“They asked me about the suitcase, if I had taken the money. What if I had accomplices, if I had given it to someone else, where did I take it, what time did I leave?

Meza assured that “I didn’t know what was in that suitcase”.

Colombian journalist Daniel Coronell told local station W Radio at the time that sources close to Sarabia told him that the then ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, was behind this whole scandal, and that he had also hired in the past as an employee at Casa de Marelbys Meza and that’s why he met her. Benedetti denied being responsible for what happened.

Benedetti accused Sarabia of manipulation of information, abuse of power, kidnapping and intimidation for the events reported by Marelbys Meza, in addition to having 150 million pesos (about US$38,000 in current exchange rates) and that Sarabia called him for help.

Sarabia said at the time that she and her family were victims of a robbery.

The Prosecutor’s Office announced an investigation into these facts, while Sarabia said that both the Presidential Protection Headquarters and the Sijin (Colombia’s Judiciary Police) “acted by applying the protocols within the scope of the law” and that the theft amounted to only US$7,000, ” corresponding to payments of official travel expenses made during August 2022 and January 2023 that were paid with that foreign currency.”

At the beginning Petro announced that Sarabia and Bennedetti would step down. However, Benedetti held the position of Colombia’s ambassador to Venezuela until 23 July.

illegal interceptions

In the midst of this scandal, Semana published a series of audios attributed to Benedetti in which he threatens to reveal details of the financing of the political campaign that brought the president to power.

After learning about the audios of the explosives, Benedetti spoke about the scandal on his Twitter account and said that the audios had been manipulated – without explaining what he was referring to – and apologized to Petro, but a day later he confirmed several statements that are in the audios and confirmed his conversations with Sarabia.

The then ambassador said that there is a campaign that tries to discredit him, with the aim of disqualifying him from what he can say in the future. But he later said that he “let himself be carried away by anger and drink”, and it was a moment of weakness when he threatened to reveal information about President Gustavo Petro’s government.

In response to this episode of the scandal, Petro stated on his Twitter account that his government did not order the interception of phones or illegal searches.

Benedetti requested in June, through his Twitter account, that the Public Ministry “take urgent measures” to protect him and his family after receiving alleged threats.

“I have physical evidence of threats we received directly and indirectly from very powerful people,” said the former employee, without going into detail.

The death of Lieutenant Colonel Óscar Dávila

The case took a dramatic turn with the death of Lieutenant Colonel Óscar Dávila, one of those in charge of presidential security, adding to the scandal of the alleged interceptions of telephone calls. Dávila was found dead on June 9 and President Petro announced that he had taken his own life.

The lieutenant colonel was implicated in the scandal of alleged illegal interceptions of Sarabia’s former nanny.

On June 21, the Public Ministry reported that Colonel Óscar Dávila had committed suicide, according to the results of the autopsy.

“From a medical-legal point of view, we conclude that it is a suicide,” said Jorge Eduardo Paredes, coroner at the National Institute of Legal Medicine.

Currently, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Dávila’s death, due to the loss of money at Sarabia’s residence. The Public Ministry is also investigating the irregular use of the polygraph at the service of the Presidency of the Republic and the possible commission of crimes of abuse of authority, among others. And it investigates the possible crimes of procedural fraud, falsity in public documents and illegal violation of communications by illegally intercepting communications to nanny Marelbys Meza.

Finally, the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on July 25 that it had forwarded to the Supreme Court of Justice four different lawsuits against former ambassador Bennedetti, among them, for financing electoral campaigns with prohibited sources due to the leaked audio in the Sarabia case.

For her part, Laura Sarabia published a statement through her official Twitter account signed by her lawyer Jorge Mario Gómez Restrepo. The document explains that Sarabia will respond to any type of investigation by Colombian justice and control entities. Likewise, the lawyer reiterates Sarabia’s innocence, and claims that during her term as head of government she did not “yield to blackmail and threats aimed at personal interests.”

*published by Mateus Cerqueira, from CNN

*with information from Fernando Ramos, Valentina González and Melissa Velásquez Loaiza, from CNN