Petro Rejects Accusations of Irregular Campaign Financing

On Thursday, President Gustavo Petro rejected the accusations by the Colombian Prosecutor's Office against his son Nicolas Petro, who was arrested for the alleged use of money from illegal groups in the 2022 presidential campaign.

RELATED:

Petro Proposes a National Agreement to Propel Colombia Forward

“With confidence, firmness, and security. I have never led my children to crime. I would never favor the crime of any of them. My political life is focused on the search for social justice and peace for Colombia,” he tweeted.

Previously, Prosecutor Mario Burgos maintained that Nicolas Petro agreed to collaborate with the investigations by providing "relevant information" about the money allegedly received from drug trafficker Samuel Santander and a son of businessman Alfonso Hilsaca.

Regarding the prosecutor's statements, the Colombian president said that they constitute an attempt to confront him with Nicolas and to overthrow his administration.

"Of course they have tried to use the family scars... to pave the way towards the collapse of the first popular government in Colombia," he said, adding that "I have never told any of my children that they commit crimes. That has not happened. ”

Regarding the accusation that Nicolas had said that Gustavo Petro knew about the use of irregular money in his campaign, the Colombian president replied, “This is a lie. But to propagate it, several media outlets use this statement: 'some sources from the Prosecutor's Office say'."

Petro then stressed that those lies cannot be confirmed by any sentence in the conversations between his son and his son's wife, which security agencies had recorded for months.

“There is no one who can end this government other than the people themselves. And the people gave an order by majority at the polls,” President Petro stressed to ratify that his administration will end in 2026 and not before.