Bogotá.- The outgoing president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, faces a new alleged corruption scandal eleven days before ending his term on August 7, due to a case involving sisters Juliana and Verónica Guerrero. The case escalated following accusations from a government official and the intervention of the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the complaints, the Guerrero sisters offered businessmen to facilitate the obtaining of contracts in different State entities through the payment of commissions and advances, taking advantage of alleged contacts within the national Government.
The scheme involved charging one million pesos (about 315 dollars) for an initial meeting with Juliana Guerrero. Then, an advance payment of 200 million (about 65,520 dollars) to begin the procedures and a 10% commission on the value of the awarded contracts, according to an investigation published by Semana magazine.
The controversy surrounding Juliana Guerrero
The name of Juliana Guerrero, a 23-year-old woman without a university degree, came to light last year. While serving as an advisor to the Ministry of the Interior, Petro introduced her in a televised cabinet meeting as the future Deputy Minister of Youth.
“Juliana is a bit young, let’s say, but very active, rebellious, like the youth who helped us win the elections,” the president said at the time.
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However, the appointment as vice minister was thwarted after it became known that the young woman had presented a fake university degree. Even so, she remained in the Government handling various matters with the endorsement of Petro, who defended her until the last moment.
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“They have been trying for several years to build romantic relationships for me with several beautiful women,” the president said on Sunday in response to those who pointed to possible romantic ties of his with Guerrero.
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Corruption allegations
The case took on another dimension on Sunday night when Angie Rodríguez, an official who was close to Petro and who currently heads the Adaptation Fund, asserted that she “had personally warned the president about the power and influence” that Juliana Guerrero wielded in the Executive branch.
Rodríguez stated that she was “the only official who alerted the president about that situation.” Furthermore, she maintained that there was a decree to remove Guerrero from the position of the president’s representative on the board of the Popular University of Cesar. However, the document “was never signed by the head of state,” she indicated in an interview with RCN news.
Petro distances himself from the allegations
Following those statements, Petro ordered the dismissal of Rodríguez this Monday, whom he labeled a “great manipulator” and added that she is a “psychiatric patient” who found an echo in “the perversion of the traditional press” which, in his opinion, seeks to discredit him.
The case also took on a judicial dimension this Monday after the Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation to establish whether the Guerrero sisters were part of the alleged influence-peddling network dedicated to managing public contracts in exchange for payments from businessmen.
Petro distanced himself from the accusations and insisted that the Prosecutor’s Office must clarify the facts, stating in a message posted on X that, if businessmen handed over money in exchange for alleged efforts to obtain contracts, they “gave money like fools” and that, if the allegations are proven, it would be a scam committed by private individuals and not an action by his Government.
The scandal represents one of the latest political and judicial fronts for Petro before handing over the Presidency this coming August 7 to President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who requested that all security guarantees be provided to Angie Rodríguez.
