Gustavo Petro asks that his own son be investigated: “Due to the information circulating in public opinion regarding my brother and my eldest son, I ask the Attorney General of the Nation to advance all the necessary investigations and determine possible responsibilities”
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (Image: AP)
Colombian President Gustavo Petro asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office this Thursday (2) to determine whether his son and his brother offered benefits to drug traffickers in exchange for money, in the context of peace policies.
“Due to the information circulating in public opinion regarding my brother, Juan Fernando Petro Urrego, and my eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, I ask the Attorney General of the Nation to advance all necessary investigations and determine possible responsibilities,” Petro said in a statement. .
The government itself had already denounced the existence of a cartel that bribes prisoners in penitentiaries to offer them false intermediaries in peace processes, judicial benefits and promises to avoid their extradition.
“My government will not offer benefits to criminals in exchange for bribes”, Petro stressed in the note.
“I trust that my brother and my son will prove their innocence, but I will respect the conclusions of the Justice”, he added.
The president’s brother already provided clarification to the MP for these accusations in early February, in a reserved 40-minute statement. On that day, Juan Fernando Petro’s lawyer assured that his client is a “victim” of a network of lawyers who use his name to mediate alleged negotiations with the government.
In early 2022, in the middle of the presidential campaign, Juan Fernando went to a prison in Bogotá to meet with several inmates. According to the Colombian press, he would have offered benefits to those convicted of corruption and drug trafficking in an eventual government of his brother.
The then candidate, Gustavo Petro, denied this version and assured that his brother was not part of his campaign.
In turn, Petro’s son, Nicolás, is a deputy for his father’s political movement in the Department of the Atlantic (North).
With his “total peace” policy, Petro seeks the peaceful dismantling of drug trafficking organizations in exchange for criminal and economic benefits for those who leave the business in the world’s largest cocaine producer.
According to Semana magazine, the cartel of lawyers is charging up to one million dollars (R$5.2 million) to traffickers in exchange for their inclusion on the lists of “peace managers,” who cannot be extradited.
The government announced a bill that will establish a maximum sentence of eight years and the possibility of conserving up to 10% of assets for traffickers who submit to the transitional justice.
AFP
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