- Petro alleges a police general plotted to plant cocaine in his vehicle before his February 3 White House meeting with Trump
- The claims coincide with a helicopter assassination attempt and charges against his 2022 campaign manager
- Intelligence sources give conflicting accounts and no evidence has been made public — a pattern that has defined Petro’s presidency
A police general fired overnight. Cocaine allegedly planted in a presidential vehicle. A helicopter forced over open sea for four hours. Colombian President Gustavo Petro unloaded all three claims in a single televised cabinet meeting on Monday, painting overlapping conspiracies aimed at destroying him before his term ends.
The central allegation targets his February 3 meeting with Trump. Petro said Brigadier General Edwin Urrego received orders to introduce “psychoactive substances” into a motorcade vehicle to brand him a drug trafficker before the summit. Urrego was retired within 24 hours but denied all involvement, calling the accusation “madness” and offering to take a polygraph.
Petro Claims Plot Amid Credibility Strain
Three intelligence sources consulted by El País could not corroborate the plot and disagreed on its origin. Two pointed to the National Intelligence Directorate, an agency Petro has filled with loyalists including former M-19 guerrilla comrades. A third implicates military intelligence working with foreign agencies in the context of Trump’s Caribbean pressure campaign.
The timing is telling. Hours before the sabotage claims, prosecutors announced charges against Ricardo Roa — head of state oil giant Ecopetrol and Petro’s 2022 campaign manager — for exceeding electoral spending limits and influence peddling. Petro framed the indictment as part of the same conspiracy, alongside the case against his son Nicolás and the jailing of two former ministers.
This is not new. Since taking office in 2022, Petro has repeatedly alleged assassination plots without presenting public evidence. The pattern has eroded credibility as Colombia enters a volatile electoral season — congressional elections on March 8, a presidential race in May — while a senator was kidnapped and two bodyguards of another were killed in separate attacks this week.
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