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Authorities arrested Nicolás Petro, the eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Saturday morning on prices of cash laundering and illicit enrichment, signaling the beginning of a authorized case that specialists say may take a look at the nation’s justice system.
Nicolás Petro’s former spouse, Daysuris Vásquez, was additionally charged with cash laundering and brought into custody, Colombia’s lawyer normal mentioned in a information launch.
Their arrests come months after Vásquez, who separated from Nicolás Petro following an alleged affair with certainly one of her former buddies, accused Nicolás Petro of utilizing funds donated to his father’s presidential marketing campaign to help a lavish life-style, Vásquez instructed Semana journal in a March interview. Gustavo Petro was unaware of his son’s actions, based on Vásquez.
“The cash by no means bought to his [father’s] marketing campaign,” Vásquez instructed Semana in Spanish.
Nicolás Petro denied that he had misused any funds from the marketing campaign in an announcement issued after the Semana story was revealed, and mentioned he’d cooperate with authorities.
The arrest of the Colombian president’s son additionally comes weeks after leaked audio messages implicated the president’s chief of employees and his ambassador to Venezuela in doable marketing campaign finance violations. Gustavo Petro fired each people after Colombia’s lawyer normal launched a probe into the matter.
All eyes are on Gustavo Petro following these scandals, placing the Colombian chief with declining approval scores in harm management, political analysts instructed The Washington Put up. The occasions can even be a take a look at of the Colombian justice system’s independence, thought-about to be among the many strongest in a area tormented by corruption, analysts mentioned.
“That is the tip of a really massive iceberg that may develop into a really lengthy investigation on this presidency,” Sergio Guzmán, director of the Colombia Danger Evaluation consultancy group, instructed The Put up. “Not solely is his credibility on the road however the lawyer normal’s credibility can be on the road.”
In a March interview with the information outlet Cambio Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who has been married 3 times, mentioned he had restricted involvement in Nicolás’s parenting. “I didn’t elevate him,” the president instructed Cambio. “That’s the fact.”
Following the arrest of his son and Vásquez, the president mentioned he’d let the investigation run its course, additional distancing himself from the matter.
“That certainly one of my youngsters has to undergo jail hurts,” Gustavo Petro mentioned Saturday in a Spanish assertion. “Because the president, I can guarantee the lawyer normal’s workplace that they’ve all of the avenues on my finish to proceed based on the regulation.”
The Colombian president additionally pledged to not intrude within the lawyer normal’s probe, “nor strain his choices.”
“To my son, I want him luck and energy. Might these occasions forge his character and I hope he can replicate about his personal errors,” Gustavo Petro added.
A spokesman for Gustavo Petro declined to remark when reached by The Put up on Saturday, referring to the president’s on-line assertion. Attorneys representing Nicolás Petro didn’t instantly reply to messages. It’s unclear who’s representing Vásquez as of late Saturday.
Gustavo Petro has spent his political profession lambasting corruption and the affect of narcotrafficking in politics, Guzmán mentioned, and up to now, there’s no proof of his involvement in his son’s alleged actions.
“We nonetheless haven’t any proof of Petro’s direct involvement. Proper now, Petro is in harm management mode attempting to isolate the problem round his son. It’s very a lot a president that doesn’t need this scandal to contain him,” Guzmán mentioned. “Lots of people are saying ‘It’s unattainable that Gustavo Petro didn’t know what his son was as much as.’ These are the sorts of issues that may take time to be resolved.”
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