In interview with Time, Gustavo Petro spoke of his intentions to reestablish relations with Venezuela, in addition to the candidate for the presidency of the Historical Pact He ended up also referring to the “Petrovideo” episode, where he is seen receiving bundles of bills in bags.
Petro He stated that within the urgent reactivation of relations with the neighboring country, which includes trade and exports, he did not rule out that Colombia was the scene of the dialogue table that Nicolás Maduro had been holding with the opposition. The aforementioned newspaper reminded him that Venezuela demanded that Álex Saab, captured and prosecuted from Barranquilla, sit at that table.
For this reason, when asked if he would agree to release Saab so that the dialogue table might be reactivated, he replied: “That is their business. Álex Saab is Colombian, Uribista. Do you know how the famous video of the bags came regarding? Through Alex Saab».
At the time, and this was recalled in the interview, the video was revealed by the senator of the Democratic Center, Paloma Valencia. However, Petro points out that the man from Barranquilla – prosecuted in the United States for a mega money laundering operation, linked to the Maduro government – was behind his surrender.
Gustavo Petro says that the famous Petrovideo was delivered by Álex Saab
“I do my research. I didn’t even know. But, in my opinion, it was the Prosecutor’s Office that gave Paloma Valencia the video because she needed it to sabotage the debate that was once morest the Prosecutor (…) », she pointed out.
And he added that the video was stolen from his friend Juan Carlos Montes, who recorded it, and that Álex Saab, whose lawyer was Abelardo De La Espriella, is involved in it.
«Juan Carlos, who is a friend, recorded that without consulting me, to verify that he had delivered the money. That is usually done, because if one person claims to give it to the Petro campaign and the other steals it, then there are ways to prove it. He had it saved in his computer file and it was stolen electronically. That video began to roll and came into the hands of some Saab partners, who I know who he is, but I reserve. Let me still investigate further. And Saab already had it in his possession. Do you know who Saab’s lawyer is? Abelardo de La Espriella, who is the one who denounces me, “explained Petro.
Piedad Córdoba, the brother-in-law and Saab
The candidate insisted that Saab is a Uribe supporter, despite the fact that, in the middle of the interview, he was reminded that the extradited and today prosecuted lent his credit card to the elected senator of the Historical Pact, Piedad Córdoba, to buy Cartier watches.
In addition, that he tried to do business with Carlos Gutiérrez Tobayo, Petro’s brother-in-law with whom he distanced himself for that case.
Currently, Montes is a fugitive from Colombian justice, due to irregularities in contracts, during Petro’s mayoralty in Bogotá. He remains in Switzerland where he processes an asylum process.
Gustavo Petro was asked if the important thing regarding the ‘Petrovideo’ was who had delivered it or if the point is what had been recorded: him receiving bags of money.
What did the Court say?
“The point is that the Supreme Court of Justice did the investigation and ruled,” said the candidate of the Historical Pact.
“It ruled that the possible crimes were already prescribed,” he reminded him Time.
To which Petro replied: “No, he said that ‘there is no criminal act’, read the ruling well. They examined the accounts of the campaign at that time, which was 2006, of the Polo Democrático, of which I was a candidate for the Senate, and they saw if that money entered the campaign and they examined (…) Under the gravity of the judicial oath, the people who gave They said that money was 20 million pesos.
De La Espriella’s response
The aforementioned medium consulted the criminal Abelardo De La Espriella regarding Petro’s statements and he said they were false.
“It is not true. That is completely false. That video came from people very close to him, like other videos that were also delivered, which are personal issues that are beside the point, “said De La Espriella in dialogue with El Tiempo.
Grupo de Diarios América (GDA), to which El Nacional belongs, is a leading media network founded in 1991 that promotes democratic values, an independent press and freedom of expression in Latin America through quality journalism for our hearings.
