After Sarabia's warnings about the passport crisis, President Petro attacks Leyva and Thomas Greg

President Gustavo Petro once again addressed the controversy surrounding the passport issuance contract after outgoing Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia reported that, with the termination of the contract with Thomas Greg & Sons, the National Printing Office lacks the capacity to produce the documents.

Although he did not directly address that incident or Laura Sarabia's complaint about Alfredo Saade's alleged order to delay scheduling appointments to "make passports work," the president again accused the multinational of having won previous contracts "through fraud."

"Thomas and Gregg decided to win the contract by cheating, using a tailor's specifications, which corrupt Foreign Ministry officials allowed. I complained to Leyva in time, and he didn't want to react," the president wrote in a tweet, which was preceded by a post with a photo of Álvaro Leyva—whom he described as "the gentleman"—along with Martha Lucía Ramírez.

"Corrupt Foreign Ministry officials have always tried to outwit the president to impose Thomas Gregg's personal interests. The tactic is to wait for the new contract to expire, only to have their back against the wall and force a contract extension," Petro added.

In his message, the president also referred to "the son of the nobleman," a reference that could point to Jorge Leyva, the son of the former foreign minister, whom Petro has criticized on other occasions for his alleged participation in meetings with interested parties interested in taking over the passport business.

"It's a shame the nobleman's son got involved in the business; there are other powerful people behind the contract," Petro said.

The president's statements come amid a new government crisis following the resignation of Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia, who left office this week after being overruled by her chief of staff, Alfredo Saade. Tensions arose after Sarabia declared the process manifestly urgent and a third contract extension was prepared. With her departure, three foreign ministers have now fallen in the Petro administration due to this controversy.

Petro went further, pointing out that Thomas Greg & Sons allegedly "dangerously concentrates Colombian data, particularly electoral data."

“Thomas Greg's contract is closely tied to power, because it's a company that dangerously concentrates Colombian data in general, and electoral data in particular. The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce must act swiftly here. As I stated in 2018, Thomas Greg was accused of having parallel registries that could modify electoral data,” he stated.

Since 2023, the government has attempted to replace Thomas Greg as the passport printer, but the process has been marred by legal entanglements, lawsuits, and overturned decisions from within the Foreign Ministry.

The controversy began in May of that year when seven companies withdrew from a Foreign Ministry tender, claiming it was rigged in favor of Thomas Greg & Sons, the company that has been producing passports since 2007. They denounced exclusive requirements that only the multinational could meet.

Then-Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva suspended the process and declared it void in September, later invoking manifest urgency to directly contract Thomas Greg & Sons to ensure the continuity of the service. However, in December, the company sued the State for 117 billion pesos, considering the cancellation of the process unfair, but withdrew the lawsuit in January 2025.

In September 2024, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo extended the contract until August 2025. It was announced that starting in September of that year, the Portuguese Mint would manufacture passports in Colombia and then transfer that work to the National Printing Office. However, three months before the planned change, there is no signed contract with Portugal, and the National Printing Office lacks the operational capacity to assume production.

President Gustavo Petro once again addressed the controversy surrounding the passport issuance contract after outgoing Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia reported that, with the termination of the contract with Thomas Greg & Sons, the National Printing Office lacks the capacity to produce the documents.

CAMILO A. CASTILLOPolitical EditorX: (@camiloandres894)