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Gustavo Petro with his son Nicolás Petro (second from right) in 2014
Photo: EITAN ABRAMOVICH / AFP
The son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Nicolás Petro, has been arrested on charges of money laundering and illegal enrichment during the 2022 presidential election campaign.
The ex-wife of the president's son, Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez, was also arrested on charges of money laundering, according to the Attorney General's Office of the South American country. Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez had contributed to the investigation with statements that Nicolás Petro had received illegal donations related to drug trafficking.
"As a person and father, I am so pained by self-destruction and that one of my sons has to go to jail," wrote the former guerrilla, former mayor of the capital Bogotá and Colombia's first left-wing head of state, Gustavo Petro, on Twitter. As president, he assured that the public prosecutor's office had all the guarantees from his side to proceed with the process in accordance with the law.
"The arrest of Nicolás Petro represents a political tidal wave," wrote the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. Not only because the scandal directly affects the presidential family. But also because the president's son has turned into an important political actor.
Petro's ambitious goals for his term in office
Colombia's President Petro took office last August with an ambitious agenda. However, he is now confronted with major challenges in implementation, for example with regard to talks with all armed groups and a comprehensive peace in the former civil war country.
Colombia is struggling with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic, great social injustice and widespread violence. The previous conservative government of President Iván Duque only half-heartedly implemented the peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla organization. As a result, many ex-combatants have gone underground again and joined criminal gangs.
jpa/dpa