The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said this Tuesday (10) that he escaped an assassination attempt during his trip to the department of Córdoba. The statement was made at the meeting of the Council of Ministers, held in the city of Montería, in Córdoba, and broadcast live.
According to Petro, he was unable to land at the initially planned location in the city on Monday night (9) because he feared that the helicopter he was in would be shot at. Petro said the situation repeated itself this Tuesday. He reported that he again avoided landing in the city for fear that the helicopter would be attacked. The Colombian president had his children on board. Faced with the risk, Petro revealed that the presidential delegation chose to follow an alternative route for around four hours, until they managed to reach a safe location.
“I have to confess that I’ve been escaping being killed for two days. That’s why last night I couldn’t get there (in Montería). I couldn’t land where I was supposed to land. They didn’t even turn on the lights,” said the president during the broadcast. “I was afraid that they would shoot at the helicopter, with my children too. So I did what I know how to do: we followed the open sea for four hours and arrived where we weren’t supposed to go, but we arrived”, he declared.
The president stated that the threat would be linked to the actions of a “new drug trafficking junta”, which, according to him, has been trying to assassinate him since the beginning of his term in office, in August 2022. Petro declared that the alleged plot would involve drug traffickers living abroad and armed dissidents, citing groups led by “Iván Mordisco”.
The statements came amid an increase in political violence in the country, three months before the presidential elections. Petro cannot run for re-election, as provided for by Colombian legislation.
The episode also occurs in the same context as the report of the temporary disappearance of indigenous senator Aida Quilcué and members of her security team, who were intercepted on a highway in the department of Cauca. The parliamentarian was found alive hours later, according to official information.
Petro had already made similar allegations in 2024, when he stated that an alleged plan to assassinate him prevented him from participating in the military parade on July 20 of that year.
