Gustavo Petro, throughout his long political life, has been accompanied by people who believed that he represented a definitive change for Colombia, the starting point of a new country. They supported him in his battles in the Senate and later defended him during his time as mayor of Bogotá. A few knew him even before, when he was a weak M-19 activist-guerilla with high-powered glasses. They are lawyers, human rights defenders, businessmen, intellectuals, communicators, politicians. To give a concrete example, Hollman Morris, who attributes almost supernatural qualities to Petro. Most of them say in public that their help is selfless, and in part it is, but in secret they want to position themselves as close as possible to the president and, of course, hold a position.
That circle that is inside the radiation core of Petro forms the intelligentia of what is known as Petrism. They adore the president, but he does not control them, they have a life of their own. It does not look like a vertical organization of order and command like Chavismo can be. Many of these elements have been useful at some point in Petro’s career, but not all of them have managed to position themselves as they would like once they have settled in the Casa de Nariño, the presidential residence. Right now, the person who has Petro’s absolute trust is Laura Sarabia, his number two for all intents and purposes. He met her only three years ago, when she arrived as secretary to his campaign manager. After winning the elections, she gave her the position of Chief of Staff and allowed her to move into the next office, only separated by a small room with a secretary. Sarabia does not need to announce herself, she simply knocks on the office door with her knuckles.
He is 30 years old and has enormous loyalty to the president. Dozens of those consulted cannot remember, after hours and hours of conversations, a criticism of the president, a sarcastic comment. His restraint is overwhelming. With the same zeal he protected his former boss, an explosive but shrewd man who knew the whole structure of Colombian politics called Armando Benedetti. The fact is that Sarabia occupies a central place in the personal and political life of the president. He has decided so and no one, absolutely no one, has managed to change his mind. And it is not that they have not tried. Dozens of times. petrists Those who consider themselves pure believe that she occupies a place that really belongs to them, that she has come to displace them at the last minute, at the moment of Petro’s greatest power. Their tempers rise when they have to contact her to schedule an appointment with the president, to send him a message.
Petrism murmurs and slips malice. Sarabia is now tormented by the suspicion that her brother, Andrés, has used her name and position to enrich himself. Several well-known journalists in Colombia have echoed these insinuations and the matter has had an enormous impact. These speculations of mismanagement of power have also reached the first lady, Verónica Alcocer, who has even filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office. Alcocer is convinced that these anonymous attacks come from within, from the heart of Petrism itself. Sarabia’s environment also assumes that this is the case. For months, an apocryphal report from the military forces was circulating in WhatsApp groups that, in great detail, described Andrés Sarabia’s supposed new rich life. The lifestyle of this young man who, after working in the Senate, now wants to be a businessman, is currently being investigated by an army of journalists who want to bring to light what, if confirmed, could be a scandal.
The president, however, has backed his number two with great emphasis and, surprisingly, has also defended Andrés Sarabia, something he did not do with his son or his brother when they began to be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office for different reasons. Personally, they have met on a couple of occasions. The question remains as to whether Petro has received any intelligence report that refutes everything that is being said. The resolution of the mess is yet to be decided. Many of those allies who feel abandoned by Petro hope that the worst omens come true and that Sarabia falls definitively, even if that harms the president. This creates a toxic and confusing environment. The love of this petrismo is so exaggerated towards Petro that they wish him the worst so that, in a new context, things will go better for him.
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The Petro world is full of conflicting interests and mutual distrust. Alcocer, for example, does not want the former M-19 guerrillas near her husband. As she said in a contemptuous tone in a video recorded during a campaign strategy meeting, Petro is a “leftist,” which, according to her, made it difficult for him to be president of Colombia. She wanted him in more central positions. That is why she does not like him hanging out with them and also thinks that they lead him to drink and have a disorderly life. The M-19 members do not look favorably on other Petro supporters who they consider interested and obsessed with taking over positions of power. In turn, the Petro supporters do not like Sarabia and some people around him, such as María Elena Romero, who previously worked with an enemy of Petro, Enrique Peñalosa; or Juan Mesa, who was private secretary to Juan Manuel Santos; or even Juan Fernández, an expert in business matters. They defame them, spread lies, some things that are true and others that are lies, and they even send the president memes in which they are caricatured. Petro leaves those messages on read. Insects that sting fly around him and the most poisonous are those that love him madly.
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