The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, is experiencing his worst political setback after the revelations of his eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, accused of illicit enrichment. The 37-year-old politician, too, has revealed to the Prosecutor's Office that part of the allegedly illegal money he received entered his father's 2022 electoral campaign.

The prosecutor in the case, Mario Burgos, has said in a public hearing that, as part of a collaboration agreement with the Justice, Petro Burgos “provided relevant information that the Prosecutor's Office was unaware of” about “facts that he knows and are of concern to the country “.

“In reality, some of said money entered their coffers and others went to the 2022 presidential campaign in which our current president, Dr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, was elected,” the prosecutor said.

According to the prosecutor, Petro Burgos “corroborates and ratifies the Prosecutor's theory of the case” about money laundering and illicit enrichment, crimes “that were backed by sufficient legally obtained evidence.”

Likewise, the president's son admitted “that he did receive large sums of money from Samuel Santander Lopesierra,” a drug trafficker known as “the Marlboro man,” as revealed to the press last March by his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez, also arrested and prosecuted for money laundering and violation of personal data, always according to the prosecutor.

Petro Burgos also told the Prosecutor's Office that he had received money from Gabriel Hilsaca Acosta, son of the controversial businessman Alfonso “Turco” Hilsaca, as well as from “Óscar Camacho, a powerful businessman from the city of Cúcuta.”

“A part of this money was used by Nicolás Petro Burgos himself and his wife (at that time) for their personal benefit and to increase their assets unjustifiably and to be able to launder the money. Another part of that money was invested in the 2022 presidential campaign,” added prosecutor Burgos.

The prosecutor has also said that Nicolás Petro gave information “about the financing of the last presidential campaign of the current president, Gustavo Petro Urrego, and the money that entered said campaign, which apparently would have exceeded the limits allowed by law and a part of this money would not have been reported to the electoral authorities”.

Political earthquake in Colombia

Politicians of different stripes have questioned the legitimacy of the government of the president, Gustavo Petro, after the revelations of his son Nicolás Petro Burgos. One of the first to react to the confession made public by the Prosecutor's Office was the former right-wing presidential candidate Federico Gutiérrez, who has said that “justice must go to the depth of this fact” and added that “it is inevitable to start a process that restore the confidence of Colombians in democracy.

Meanwhile, Senator Jonathan Pulido Hernández, better known as “Jota Pe Hernández” went further and said that he will accuse the Head of State before the Commission of Investigation and Accusation because he believes that he did know about the entry of illegal money into his campaign.

“I will denounce Gustavo Petro before the Accusations Commission. Nicolás (Petro) has confirmed to the Prosecutor's Office that his father did know about the income of irregular money to the presidential campaign. I hope that for the first time, this commission will act on the evidence and not just acquit.”

Former President Andrés Pastrana, a staunch critic of Petro, has assured that “criminal responsibility for the money received by Nicolás Petro falls on the beneficiary of the crime, the candidate and current president Gustavo Petro, who must immediately face what calls into question the legitimacy of his mandate.

In the same sense, former presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt expressed herself, who wondered if, given what Petro Burgos said, who was a candidate for Governor of Atlántico and is a deputy to the Assembly of that department, Colombia Humana, the movement that supported Petro to reach the Presidency, will “file a complaint for slander” against the firstborn.