First modification:
Nicolás Petro, a representative for the department of Atlántico and the first-born of the Colombian president, was accused by his ex-wife of taking over contributions from businessmen, some with questionable pasts, who were going to his father’s presidential campaign. The Colombian president formally asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate his son before the crisis broke out.
Gustavo Petro’s government is experiencing what may be the most difficult weeks since the start of his term on August 7. The investigations into Nicolás Petro, the president’s eldest son and representative for the Atlantic region, for alleged corruption have generated a media hurricane in Colombia that has led to an image crisis for the Petro family and the Government.
The accusations against Nicolás Petro Burgos were made on March 3 by his ex-wife, Day Vásquez, in a prime time slot of ‘Revista Semana’, a well-known conservative media outlet in Colombia. There, Vásquez commented on the illegal financing that his ex-husband had received during his father’s presidential campaign by various businessmen in the Atlantic region, located on the Caribbean coast and whose capital is Barranquilla.
Apparently, Petro Burgos had the responsibility of collecting these contributions to the presidential campaign that his father led in 2022, but he never did so, since he allegedly took possession of this money. Vásquez indicated that among the people from whom they had financed were two names of dubious reputation: Samuel Santander Lopesierra, a character linked to drug trafficking, and Alfonso “El Turco” Hisalca, questioned for his ties to paramilitaries in politics.
Some extremely serious accusations, especially considering that his father dedicated a large part of his political career prior to the Presidency, when he was a senator at the beginning of the century, to uncover links between paramilitaries and various political positions at that time. Investigations that put government officials of Álvaro Uribe Vélez and even the former president himself on the ropes.
To these accusations by Velásquez, which were accompanied by several WhatsApp conversations, was added the investigation into the high lifestyle that Nicolás Petro Burgos leads in Barranquilla. A level that would be practically impossible for him to reach with his salary as a legislator, which is currently around $3,000 a month.
The president’s son owns a luxurious house in the wealthiest neighborhood of that city and published bank statements show expenses of up to $8,000 a month in restaurants and hotels.
Gustavo Petro asked to investigate his brother and his son a day before the scandal broke out
President Petro’s reaction to this whole scandal even came a day before -on March 2- that it exploded with the interview in ‘Revista Semana’, when through Twitter, the president asked the Prosecutor’s Office to start the process to investigate his brother Juan Fernando Petro Urrego and his son Nicolás Petro.
Although this investigation was not requested due to the alleged illicit financing during the campaign, but rather due to what the president considered “public opinion rumors” regarding the role of his brother and son in contacting prisoners to charge them with the intention that they be included in the plan for ‘total peace’. This is one of Gustavo Petro’s biggest electoral promises, which aims to reach peace agreements with the armed groups of this South American nation and put an end to decades of conflict.
In his statement, President Petro reiterated that the only person who has his approval to maintain contacts with representatives of these criminal groups is the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, and that he trusted the Prosecutor’s Office to clarify everything that happened.
Nicolás Petro denied the accusations and stated that he felt “abandoned”
Through Twitter and in an interview with various Colombian media outlets, Nicolás Petro has denied any type of relationship of his person with the “Total Peace” program and with the accusations that his ex-wife launched against him for corruption in the “Semana Magazine”. ‘.
Petro Burgos trusted the investigations of the Prosecutor’s Office and made himself available to the agency, although he denounced that people from his close circle had “abandoned” him.
The crisis has confronted the president’s own family. From the beginning Gustavo Petro was forceful against his brother and his son. The communication sentenced: “Whoever wants to interfere in this purpose (achieve peace), or take personal advantage of it, has no place in the Government, even if they are members of my family.”
Another of his daughters, Andrea Petro, charged against his older brother in an interview with ‘Cambio’ in which he stated that “the family is not above everything. First is the nation and respect for the Colombian people”.
I will be clear and frank with you.
The family is not above everything, first is the nation and respect for the Colombian people. The president shows his honesty and transparency. Everything is in the hands of justice, his decision will be respected and abided by. https://t.co/wKeexieE0Q– Andrea Petro (@andreapetro91) March 6, 2023
This image scandal occurs at an extremely complex time within the Petro government and has come days after the president made his first ministerial change. The president made this decision after his former Minister of Education, Alejandro Gaviria, was critical of the health reform proposal that the president and the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, have planned.
Gustavo Petro came to the Presidency on August 7, 2022 with a great promise of change and as the first left-wing president in the history of this nation.
On his agenda is a structural change through a tax reform, to the countryside, to health or to education. Measures that have found a lot of friction in Congress and that have annoyed the conservative sectors of Colombian society.
After enjoying several months with favorable data about his government, an ‘Invamer Poll’ survey, dated March 1, showed that disapproval is greater than approval of his management among the population.
With EFE and local media
#scandal #alleged #corruption #eldest #son #hits #Government #Gustavo #Petro