“This case hits the left and Gustavo Petro’s project” | INTERVIEW

This Monday, Gustavo Petro celebrates one year at the helm of the first left-wing government of Colombia. But his first anniversary comes not with fanfare, but with a huge scandal that could even cost him the presidency. His eldest son, Nicholashas indicated that he received money from characters linked to drug trafficking and smuggling, and that part of that money ended up in his father’s electoral campaign.

LOOK: What can happen to Gustavo Petro now that his son claimed that illegal money entered his campaign?

Nicolás Petro was a key player in the campaign in northern Colombia, in the department of Atlántico, and was even elected a regional deputy. But the involvement of his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez, in the diversion of opaque money – and an infidelity involved, to add more flavor to the novel – motivated her to reveal to the press last March the millionaire expenses of the president’s eldest son.

Since then, the president has distanced himself from his son and asked that he be investigated. Last weekend, Nicolás and his ex-partner were arrested, but he decided to collaborate and turned on the fan to splash whoever he could -especially the president- to obtain prison benefits.

It is a scandal of which details are only just becoming known, but which has put all Colombians on edge. In this regard, we spoke with Martha Soto, head of the Investigative Unit of the newspaper “El Tiempo”.

—How does the revelations of his own son affect Gustavo Petro, and the governance in Colombia?

Without a doubt, this is a new scandal in the bowels of the government itself, and in this case it is literal because it is about the president’s eldest son, who is going to complicate his governance just one year after taking office as head of state. . What is expected? Well, there has been talk for some time about an adjustment in the bishops that accompany the president in his cabinet, and surely now with these new indications he will have to make an additional effort to be able to promote the legislative agenda that he has planned. The president is cornered from a personal point of view, but in any case he has shown himself to be very calm with regard to the country because he says that he is sure that no illegal money entered his campaign and that he is going to respect the research. August 7 marks one year of his first term and it is possible that in that speech – which all Colombians are waiting for – we will know what is coming for the country.

Nicolás Petro and his ex-wife Day Vásquez in their statement before the Prosecutor’s Office.

—Is this the most serious political scandal in the recent history of Colombia after the 8,000 Process that complicated the government of Ernesto Samper? Can we compare them?

Although the Odebrecht corruption scandal here in Colombia is still alive, it did not happen like in Peru or in other countries that escalated to the presidencies of the Republic. So, this case is comparable to the scandal of the 8,000 process, due to the infiltration of drug money into Ernesto Samper’s campaign, but with a big difference, that in this case the main witness is neither more nor less the eldest son of the president.

—As soon as the complaints came out in March, the president said in an interview that he had not raised Nicolás, then pointed out that he had to make amends for his mistakes, but when he went to look for him in the bunker after his arrest, Nicolás did not want to receive him. Will it be more difficult for the president to defend himself against his own son?

It is a complicated issue not only for Gustavo Petro as president but also as a father. From different shores, they are asking that the institutionality be respected, that justice be allowed to act, and Nicolás Petro will have to deliver evidence that corroborates what he already said in his extension of the investigation of the accused, as it is technically said. But what is clear is that there is a person who unites Nicolás with his father: it is Máximo Noriega, political godfather of Nicolás Petro and also the coordinator of the “Petro Presidente” campaign on the coast. Everything seems to indicate, from the audios that the prosecution exhibited at the hearings, that he was aware of the income of money that was also being used for some campaign events. Some say that the investment that was being made on the coast in newspapers, in billboards and in large events with as many as 15,000 people was notorious, and that nobody knew who was financing it. Here there are several questions about whether or not the campaign realized what was happening on the coast, which at the voting level was definitive for Gustavo Petro to now be sitting in the House of Nariño.

Nicolás Petro was a fundamental part of the campaign of his father, Gustavo Petro.

—Petro has even named his legal representative for his eventual defense. What is expected to happen in Congress? Is a political trial on the horizon? Is that what legislators are going to do now?

So far, the Prosecutor’s Office has not talked about certifying copies to the Commission on Accusations of the House of Representatives, which is the ideal entity for this type of investigation when a president is involved. However, there are already members of Congress who are announcing that they are going to file actions so that the commission opens an investigation. It has already been said that it is going to accumulate with another previous investigation that already existed, so we are going to wait for how it progresses in two ways: one in ordinary justice and another in the Accusations Commission, where there is a political tone. The president assures that his son has been pressured, but Nicolás Petro has emphatically denied it, even at the hearing itself, pointing out that his decision to collaborate with justice is voluntary and free.

—This is not the only scandal of the Petro government. A few weeks ago, it was learned of illegal wiretapping of his former chief of staff and his former ambassador to Venezuela also said that illegal money entered the campaign. How do you continue to sustain your discourse of change and the fight against corruption?

Criminal behaviors are individual and the president cannot answer for what third parties do, it is very difficult to blame him for the behaviors of other people. Some point out that what was happening with Nicolás Petro was notorious and that is why the family had distanced themselves, the mother herself had assured her that some of the houses she owned looked like gangsters. There were several alarms that were going off and the big question is whether nobody noticed in the presidential environment.

—Is Uribism empowered with this scandal?

I think that we will find out at the polls in the regional elections in October, but without a doubt it ends up hitting the left and that project that was embodied in Gustavo Petro. But the right is also hit by an accusation that has been made against a member of the Democratic Center (uribista), who is Oscar Iván Zuloaga, for the Odebrecht case.

Source: Elcomercio