The office of the Colombian Attorney General announced Monday that Nicolás Petro Burgos, son of the country’s radical leftist President Gustavo Petro, will soon face trial on illicit enrichment and money laundering charges.
Petro Burgos’s trial will proceed due to his refusal to collaborate with Colombian justice authorities in a probe launched against him this year for allegedly receiving money from drug traffickers meant for his father’s 2022 presidential campaign.
“Today begins the fight of my life. I knew that the [Attorney General Francisco] Barbosa Prosecutor’s Office could not be trusted, and today they proved it,” Petro Burgos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday afternoon. “They have pushed me to the limit, with the sole intention of turning me into a weapon against my father. I decided to stand up and not kneel before the executioner.”
Petro Burgos, who — until his resignation in August — served as a member of the Atlantico province’s local legislature, was briefly arrested in late July alongside his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez Castro, who faces similar charges.
In March, Vásquez Castro told the Colombian magazine Semana that Petro Burgos had allegedly received large sums of money from convicted drug traffickers, politicians, and other corrupt individuals for Gustavo Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign.
In return for their money, Vásquez Castro claimed, they would be included in Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” negotiations, which included holding “peace talks” with Colombian drug traffickers and terrorist organizations such as the Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Gustavo Petro, a former member of the Marxist M19 guerilla, became the first leftist president in Colombia’s history in 2022.
In her interview with Semana, Vásquez Castro claimed that Petro Burgos had instead pocketed all of the received money to fund a luxury life in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla, purchasing a mansion worth 1.6 billion Colombian pesos (roughly $392,000).
According to Vásquez Castro, some of the men who allegedly gave money to Nicolás Petro include Samuel Santander Lopesierra, also known as the “Marlboro Man,” who was extradited to the United States in the 1990s and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a U.S. court until his early release in 2021; and Alfonso “the Turk” Hilsaca, a Colombian businessman currently undergoing a lengthy trial process on charges of maintaining links to paramilitary organizations and involvement in the murder of a Colombian citizen.
During his time as a local legislator (2020-2023), Petro Burgos reportedly earned a salary of 13 million Colombian pesos ($3,182). However, Colombian prosecutors determined an “unjustified increase in assets” as, to be able to justify his own reported monthly expenses, Petro Burgos — who declared having no income other than his salary as a legislator — would have had to earn a salary of 200 million Colombian pesos per month (roughly $49,000). Colombian prosecutor Mario Burgos deemed in August that it was “illogical” for Nicolás Petro Burgos to have the multi-million expenses he reported with his salary as a legislator.
Petro Burgos first denied his ex-wife’s accusations in March after the Colombian Attorney General’s office announced a probe into Petro Burgos following Vásquez Castro’s interview.
During his brief arrest, Petro Burgos reportedly admitted to local prosecutors in early August that some illegal money did enter his father’s presidential campaign. He nonetheless declared himself not guilty after prosecutors accused him of buying properties using money that did not come from his salary as a local legislator, adding that he would “collaborate” with the prosecutors and “tell the truth of what he knows.”
Semana reported Monday that, according to sources cited, Petro Burgos’s willingness to collaborate completely changed after he received a visit from his father in late August. Following their encounter, Petro Burgos took a completely different stance, switched lawyers, caused the postponement of interrogation proceedings, and left the prosecutor of the case in the lurch.
Prior to his newfound refusal to collaborate, Petro Burgos negotiated a prospective deal with the prosecutors for a reduced sentence and house arrest benefits. The deal fell through following his unwillingness to continue collaboration with local authorities and his refusal to provide the names and evidence he had previously committed to provide.
Local media reported Tuesday that Colombian judge Hugo Junior Carbonó Ariza had been assigned to the case after Petro Burgos’s defense team requested that an “independent judge” handle the case, claiming that Petro Burgos is being “persecuted” by Attorney General Francisco Barbosa, who has been critical of Petro and his far-left policies in the past.
The trial does not have a fixed date to begin at press time. Petro Burgos could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has not issued any public comment regarding his son’s upcoming trial at press time.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer who documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.