US prosecutors investigating Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro: NYT
Two investigations into campaign financing explore links to drug trafficking
This piece is republished from our sister org Colombia Reports
At least two US federal prosecutors have opened preliminary investigations into Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday.
According to the US newspaper, the criminal investigations were being conducted by the US attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and would be supported by agents of Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The investigations have been trying to establish, among other things, if Petro has met with drug traffickers and if his campaign sought mafia campaign donations, three anonymous sources told the NYT.
The investigations would be in their early stages, according to the US newspaper.
It is unclear if the investigations will result in criminal charges, the NYT added.
The criminal investigations followed unsubstantiated claims of US President Donald Trump, who called his Colombian counterpart a “drug trafficking leader” amid tensions over the US involvement in the Gaza genocide and US air strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea.
The Trump administration subsequently put Petro on a blacklist for drug traffickers, claiming that the Colombian president “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”
Petro has arguably been the most active Colombian politician when it comes to fighting the influence of organized crime in politics.
In response to allegations made by the president when he was a senator, more than 80 congressmen and governors were sent to prison because of their ties to paramilitary groups that controlled Colombia’s cocaine exports at the time.
The Truth Commission that was set up as part of a peace process with the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC confirmed that these paramilitary organizations and their drug trafficking associates worked together with US intelligence agencies like the CIA and the DEA.
The Trump administration has tried to undermine the war crimes tribunal that came with the peace process since taking office for the first time in 2017.
Supporters of Petro have framed the investigation as an attempt by the US to meddle in upcoming Colombian presidential elections.
You can also donate a one-time gift via “Buy Me a Coffee”. It only takes a few moments, and you can do so here.
And if you can’t do any of that, please do help us by sharing the piece! We don’t have billionaire PR teams either.
Hasta pronto, piratas!
