Nicolás Petro Burgos, Colombian far-left President Gustavo Petro’s oldest son, admitted on Sunday that he received 1.3 billion Colombian pesos (roughly $336,000) during his father’s 2022 presidential campaign, but denied that the funds were illegal or meant for his father’s campaign.
Petro Burgos, 39, is a former member of the local legislature of the Atlántico Department (state). Since 2023, Petro Burgos has been subject to a lengthy judicial process on accusations of illicit enrichment and money laundering alongside his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez.
Vásquez claimed to the magazine Semana at the time that Petro Burgos had received large sums of money from Colombian drug traffickers — including individuals convicted by U.S. courts in the past — politicians, and other individuals convicted of corruption for his father’s 2022 presidential campaign in exchange for future benefits from a then-prospective Petro administration.
Vásquez further claimed that Petro Burgos had instead pocketed all of the received money to fund a lavish lifestyle in the city of Barranquilla, including the purchase of a luxury mansion. Petro Burgos, who has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, was arrested in late July 2023 but released days later after he initially agreed to collaborate with prosecutors. Days after he reportedly received a visit from President Petro, Petro Burgos took a completely different stance, suddenly refusing to collaborate with prosecutors and choosing to go to trial.
The trial has not been scheduled at press time. In September, President Petro accused prosecutors of “leaking” information to journalists on upcoming indictments related to the case. As of early October, the indictment hearing is scheduled for November 10 after it was delayed at the request of Petro Burgos’ defense team.
Prosecutors are reportedly preparing to indict Petro Burgos on three additional charges: Undue interest in contracts, falsification of public documents, and influence peddling during his time as an Atlántico legislator. Petro Burgos will also face a separate disciplinary trial on charges of illicit enrichment.
On Sunday, Petro Burgos issued a 90-minute interview to the Colombian magazine Cambio accompanied by his lawyer Alejandro Carranza, during which he admitted to having received roughly $300,000 during his father’s campaign in “loans” to buy a home. According to him, it was a “mistake” and not a crime. He denied that the funds were from drug trafficking or of illicit origin. He also asserted, “I never told anyone that those funds were for my dad’s campaign.”
“The reality is in my tax return. They said that I had never reported those funds, but there is my tax return. We are now in the evidentiary stage, and I don’t want to refer to the substance of the evidence, but what I can tell you is that I did receive some lawful funds that went toward certain assets,” Petro Burgos said. He later denied that it was illicit enrichment, asserting, “Just because I’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean I’ve committed crimes. There’s quite a difference.”
Petro Burgos claimed in the interview that his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez, “kept all the money,” which, according to him, was used to “purchase goods that Daysuris took and used.” He also accused Vásquez of threatening him and claimed that she is the one “who really got rich.”
“She has been threatening and harassing me daily for almost three years. She is a witness who should remain neutral. But she is conspiring with the prosecutor’s office, with a sector of the press, and with a presidential candidate. She has become famous at my expense. Before, no one knew her. She kept the car with the help of prosecutor Mario Burgos, and that is illegal,” Petro Burgos said.
“She kept the house in Tubará, she kept the money from the failed business venture in Villacampestre. Ms. Lucy Laborde knows this and has concealed it. Daysuris kept the money and spent it. But they accuse me, when the one who really got rich was Ms. Daysuris Vásquez,” he continued.
Asked what he is living on since he has not worked for a long time, Petro Burgos claimed to the interviewer that he is “completely in debt” and that he is receiving help from his father, President Petro.
He further claimed that he is waiting to potentially regain control of the assets, including a roughly $51,000 Mercedes Benz vehicle reportedly purchased by Petro Burgos and Vásquez in 2020 and registered under the name of a friend as a “personal favor” to Vásquez The vehicle is in the custody of the Attorney General’s Office after Vásquez handed it over as part of her agreement with the prosecution.
Petro Burgos also accused prosecutors of allegedly having “politically instrumentalized” his case to benefit conservative presidential candidate hopefuls Vicky Dávila and former Attorney General Francisco Barbosa, both of whom are highly critical of President Petro. Dávila was the journalist that interviewed Vásquez in 2023, when she accused Petro Burgos of taking money from drug traffickers. Former AG Barbosa withdrew from the race on Sunday on the grounds that he did not receive the increased security protection necessary for his status as a former official, which made it impossible for him to participate on an equal footing.
Petro Burgos claimed to Cambio that Barbosa offered President Petro to drop the case against him in exchange for keeping an official in her position at the Attorney General’s Office and will present a lawsuit against Barbosa on extortion charges.
Barbosa rejected Petro Burgos’ accusations in remarks given to Infobae on Sunday. Barbosa said, “there is no truth to what was said in that interview” because Colombia “knows very well” that he did not have cordial relations with Petro, “and I believe that this leads to a flat rejection of the existence of any type of agreement. Agreements are made between friends.”
“I am not friends with the president, and I was previously his institutional opponent,” Barbosa stressed.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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