Colombia Humana headquarters inspected as part of investigation into Petro's campaign

The Colombian Attorney General's Office on Wednesday inspected the headquarters of the ruling party Colombia Humana as part of an investigation into the presidential campaign that brought President Gustavo Petro to power in 2022, for allegedly violating campaign finance limits .

Sources within the institution confirmed to EFE that the search of the political movement's headquarters " is part of a necessary verification process regarding the financial statements related to the 2022 presidential campaign and its campaign manager, Ricardo Roa Barragán," who is currently the president of the state-owned oil company Ecopetrol. See more: 'Not even a potential Constituent Assembly could stop the 2026 elections'

The report added that "this action is part of a methodological, technical and objective work , aimed at verifying facts and identifying possible responsibilities" in order to "establish the alleged illicit financing of campaigns and violation of electoral limits for the Presidency" in 2022.

However, the Prosecutor's Office has not yet charged anyone in this case. Meanwhile, a report by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Petro's campaign, presented last August and not yet voted on by that body, indicated that campaign finance limits were violated by more than 3.5 billion pesos (approximately US$902,000 today) and called for sanctions against those responsible .

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The report calls for administrative sanctions and fines for Roa and other officials, as well as for the Colombia Humana and Unión Patriótica parties, members of the leftist coalition Pacto Histórico, "for violating the electoral financing regulations." The alleged irregularities in Petro's presidential campaign were reported in February 2023 through an anonymous complaint , prompting the National Electoral Council (CNE) to open an investigation.

In October 2024, the National Electoral Council (CNE) filed charges against Petro's campaign for allegedly exceeding spending limits and using prohibited, undeclared sources of funds. According to the CNE, Petro's presidential campaign failed to report contributions to the agency for the first round of elections , held on May 29, 2022, totaling 3,709,361,342 pesos (approximately US$954,000). See more: President Petro arrived in Riyadh and met with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

These contributions were made by the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode), the Alternative Democratic Pole party, and the Workers' Union (USO). Regarding the second round of elections, held on June 19, 2022, Petro's campaign, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), allegedly also violated "the spending limit by the sum of 1,646,386,773 pesos (approximately US$389,541)."

Petro then asserted that the CNE's decision to bring charges against his 2022 campaign violates his presidential immunity and insisted on his theory that it is a soft coup against him.

EFE