Colombia Withdraws State Bodyguards From 20 Petro-Era Allies
Colombia · Politics
Key Facts
- The country — Colombia is South America’s third most populous country, with about 52 million people. Decades of armed conflict left politicians, activists and former officials with state-paid bodyguards.
- The institution — The National Protection Unit, known as the UNP, is the state agency that assigns bodyguards and armoured vehicles to people it judges to be at risk.
- What changed — Abelardo de la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer, was sworn in as president on 7 August 2026. Several of Gustavo Petro’s former ministers then regrouped in the Gabinete por la Vida, a shadow cabinet watching the new government.
- What happened — The UNP is withdrawing bodyguards and armoured vehicles from 20 allies of former president Gustavo Petro. The magazine Semana reported the list on Monday 21 September 2026, citing a risk review begun in late August.
- Who is affected — Eleven are former ministers, among them Armando Benedetti, who ran the Interior Ministry, and Antonio Sanguino, who ran the Labour Ministry. Also listed are former finance ministers José Antonio Ocampo and Germán Ávila, and former intelligence chief Jorge Lemus.
- What it means for you — Personal security in Colombia is granted by the state, so it changes when the government changes. If you follow Colombian political risk, this is a sharp break with the last administration.
- Still open — Nothing is final yet: those notified have ten business days to appeal and ask for a new risk assessment. Lemus says he will appeal; no response from Benedetti or Sanguino has been reported.
Colombia’s protection agency is taking bodyguards and armoured vehicles away from Gustavo Petro’s former ministers, just as many of them regroup as a shadow cabinet.
Colombia is withdrawing the UNP security details of 20 allies of former president Gustavo Petro. The list includes two of his best-known ministers, Armando Benedetti and Antonio Sanguino.
The National Protection Unit, or UNP, is the state agency that guards people judged to be at risk. Benedetti ran the Interior Ministry under Petro, and Sanguino ran the Labour Ministry.
The magazine Semana reported the list on Monday 21 September 2026. It comes about six weeks after Abelardo de la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer, was sworn in as president on 7 August 2026.
Eleven former ministers on one list
Eleven of the 20 names are former ministers. Besides Benedetti and Sanguino, they include two former finance ministers, José Antonio Ocampo and Germán Ávila.
Former foreign minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, former health minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo and former mines minister Edwin Palma are also listed. So are Petro’s former ministers of equality, science, trade and information technology.
The rest are senior officials and people close to the left. They include former peace commissioner Otty Patiño and Daniel Quintero, a former national health superintendent.
Jorge Lemus is on the list too. He ran the National Intelligence Directorate, Colombia’s civilian intelligence agency, under Petro.
Also listed is Pilar Rueda, wife of former presidential candidate Iván Cepeda. She works at the JEP, the special court created by the 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas.
So is Daniel Mendoza, the activist who created the web series Matarife. Mayerly Alejandra Legarda Quilcúe, daughter of former vice-presidential candidate Aida Quilcúe, completes the list.
A shadow cabinet loses its escorts
Several of the former ministers now sit in the Gabinete por la Vida, or Cabinet for Life. Petro launched it in August to shadow the new government, borrowing the British model of an opposition cabinet.
The Medellín daily El Colombiano notes that in Colombia such a body is purely symbolic. Its members follow individual policy areas and challenge the new government’s decisions.
Their protection typically meant an armoured vehicle, two bodyguards and a bulletproof vest, according to the news site La Silla Vacía. Semana called the group the “shadow cabinet” of Petro and Cepeda.
How the UNP security details are decided
El Colombiano and the radio network La FM tie the decisions to a re-evaluation of risk levels. The UNP, led by director Didier Blanco, began that review in late August.
Under Colombian rules, a committee known as Cerrem studies each risk assessment and recommends keeping, changing or ending protection. The UNP director then decides by a formal administrative act.
Those affected have ten business days from notification to appeal, El Tiempo reported. They can also ask for a new study of the risk they face.
So the withdrawals are not yet final. Lemus told El Colombiano he had been notified and would lose his escort within five to ten days.
Lemus says he will appeal
Lemus, who was also head of the UIAF financial intelligence unit, said he was given only one reason. He was told he no longer needed protection.
He disagrees. “I believe that, in any case, I still carry risks, because I handled delicate matters and dealt with delicate people,” he said.
He said he would ask the agency to let him keep the detail. According to La FM, he held the De la Espriella government responsible for anything that happens to him.
No public response from Benedetti or Sanguino had been reported by Tuesday afternoon, 22 September 2026.
Earlier cuts and a wider fight over bodyguards
The list follows earlier withdrawals from figures close to Petro. In late August the UNP cut the details of influencer Beto Coral and of Gabriela Muñoz and Juliana Guerrero.
Semana describes Muñoz and Guerrero as two women close to Petro who held contracts with his government. El Tiempo reported that the agency reviewed their risk and found no grounds to keep the escorts.
The YouTuber Levy Rincón has lost his detail as well. Colombia’s inspector general’s office, the Procuraduría, has opened a preliminary inquiry into how Muñoz and Guerrero received protection.
That inquiry targets officials still to be identified at the Interior Ministry, the UNP and Cerrem. Nobody has been charged.
Protection is a serious matter in Colombia, where politicians and activists face real threats. UNP figures cited by Semana count 313 security incidents against protected people between August 2022 and June 2026.
Of those, 276 were attacks, according to La Silla Vacía. The appeals now under way will test whether Petro’s former ministers are still seen as targets.
More: Colombia coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
What is Colombia’s UNP?
The Unidad Nacional de Protección, or National Protection Unit, is the state agency that protects people judged to be at risk. It assigns bodyguards, armoured vehicles and other measures to officials, politicians, social leaders and journalists. It is currently led by Didier Blanco.
Who lost UNP security details this week?
A list reported by Semana on 21 September 2026 names 20 people. They include 11 former ministers of Gustavo Petro, among them Armando Benedetti and Antonio Sanguino. It also names former officials such as Jorge Lemus and Otty Patiño, and relatives of opposition figures.
Why were the details withdrawn?
Colombian outlets say the decisions follow a review of risk levels that the UNP began in late August. Jorge Lemus, the one person on the list who has spoken publicly, said he was told he no longer needed protection.
Can the decisions be reversed?
Yes. Those notified have ten business days to appeal and can ask for a new risk study, according to El Tiempo. Lemus has said he will appeal.
Sources: Semana on the UNP list, La Silla Vacía on the Gabinete por la Vida, El Colombiano on the review and appeals, El Colombiano interview with Jorge Lemus, La FM on the Lemus notification, El Tiempo on the appeal deadline, El Tiempo on the August withdrawals, Infobae on the wider list, CNN en Español on the 7 August inauguration
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This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief