Nicholas Petro, son of the president of Colombiadenied this Sunday the accusations of corruption and links with drug traffickers denounced by local media and for which he is being investigated.
“I am in total disposition to appear before the control entities and confirm my innocence (…) the money in question does not come from the mafia, nor from corruption, nor from any illegal activity,” said the deputy of the department. of the Atlantic (north) by the leftist movement of President Gustavo Petro.
Nicolás Petro’s ex-wife, Day Vásquez, accused him in an interview with the magazine Week of having ties to drug traffickers and smugglers, in addition to receiving money for Gustavo Petro’s presidential campaign that he actually used to pay for a luxurious life, according to her, behind his father’s back.
The media outlet published the transcript of different WhatsApp conversations between the then couple in which they talk about movements of large sums of money, the purchase of a country house worth the equivalent of more than $330,000 and corrupt dealings with ministers of the government.
In one of the transcripts, the president’s eldest son claims to have received from the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, ten job “quotas” for lawyers in his circle and asks his then-wife to look for resumes of relatives.
to the revelations of Weekother media were added that published bank statements that account for monthly expenses higher than the salary of a deputy.
On Thursday, before Day Vásquez’s accusations, the president asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate his 36-year-old son and his brother Juan Fernando Petro to determine if they have offered drug traffickers benefits in the framework of official peace initiatives in exchange for money.
Nicolás Petro announced in the statement that he is taking “a step aside” from his father’s politics and leftist coalition while his “innocence” is verified.