The arrest of the son of Gustavo Petro marks his first anniversary at the head of Colombia

When Gustavo Petro reviews in a week everything he experienced during his first year in charge of Colombia, he will feel exhausted.. Much noise and little progress for the “Government of change”, the same one that promised new ways of doing politics and an iron fight against corruption.

The first anniversary of Petro in Casa de Nariño thus comes with the outbreak of the most serious scandal of a surprising list, which also has his eldest son as the protagonist. A torpedo to the waterline of the Historical Pact, punctuated by disagreements and struggles that have also affected his popularity: from 20% disapproval at the beginning of his term to the current 61%, according to Invamer. And with 70% of citizens convinced that the country is getting worse.

Yesterday the weight of history fell on the 74th Court of Guarantee Control of Bogotá, after the first arrest of the son of an acting president. The Prosecutor's Office, after five months of investigations, accuses deputy Nicolás Petro, 37, and his ex-wife, Day Vásquez, of illicit enrichment and money laundering.

The judge must decide in the next few hours whether to prosecute the couple and whether they remain in pretrial detention, in a case revealed in March by Semana magazine that can carry sentences of up to 30 years in prison, according to local media..

“The seizure measure is not illegal, but it could be a hasty action. This is important, understanding the political dispute between the prosecutor and Petro,” columnist David González Escobar explained to EL MUNDO, after criticism from the ruling party..

Vásquez herself confessed to the weekly that Nicolás kept a billion pesos from his father's campaign, which he himself had obtained from two obscure characters: the former drug trafficker Santa Lopesierra, alias the Marlboro Man, who was imprisoned in the United States and Alfonso Hilsaca, alias El Turco, once linked to paramilitary groups.

The magazine also revealed thousands of WhatsApp conversations between the two, which exposed various corruptions.. “As a person and a father, so much self-destruction and the fact that one of my children goes to jail hurts me a lot,” reacted the president, who above all announced that he is not willing to put pressure on the Prosecutor's Office, an attitude pondered by his allies and collaborators.

Allied support

Petro received the immediate support of his closest allies, such as Gustavo Bolívar, candidate for mayor of the capital for the Historical Pact. “Nicolás Petro is the first son of a president to go to jail, but not because the sons of other presidents have not committed crimes, but because no other president allows Justice to act independently and without pressure as Petro does,” he said. Bolivar.

“The arrest of Nicolás Petro is very serious and affects Petro's legitimacy,” summed up political scientist Mauricio Jaramillo. A legitimacy that opponents question, but that for its vice president, Francia Márquez, has screwed thanks to her “righteousness” in the response.

The media followed the news as if it were the World Cup final, minute by minute. When Vásquez provided the information that blamed her ex-husband months ago, the leaked wasap audios became a trending social topic.

“A good moment to remember that Nicolás Petro is not only Petro's son: he was also his political operator, he was his candidate for Governor of the Atlantic placed by him and one of the key leaders of his campaign on the coast, which was the region who decided the elections in the second round. There is political responsibility,” said González Escobar.

The other mainstay in Petro's campaign, especially in the transcendental coastal zone, was Armando Benedetti, former Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, promoter of the whitening of the Chavista dictatorship and protagonist of the other great scandal of the Administration of Change: his personal scuffle and politician with the former head of the Office of the Presidency, Laura Sarabia, caused the dismissal of both, despite being their two closest collaborators.

An indirect consequence of the scandal is that Petro could be disqualified, “due to a conflict of interest”, when proposing a shortlist to replace the prosecutor, who is on his way out, recalls González Escobar.