“Petro explodes over comment attributed to De la Espriella”

In April 2026, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic alerted about possible irregularities in the payment of more than $69 billion in royalties for scholarships in Magdalena and Chocó. According to the state’s highest fiscal control body, there is no supporting documentation for those resources.

“The oversight body determined that the execution of the projects failed to materialize their purpose and lacks supporting documentation to demonstrate their proper execution”, specified the Comptroller’s Office in a statement.

In an unofficial account attributed to president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella (@De La Espriella Presidente), a criticism was made of the outgoing government, led by President Gustavo Petro, regarding the fiscal findings of the Comptroller’s Office. He asserted that the administration engaged in another case of corruption and has been deceiving the student population.

“This is very serious, more corruption cases from the Petro government: 69 billion in scholarships for which no students are registered. At this rate, there can be no transition with these bandits; what should be done is to ask him to vacate the office and conduct audits to see the true state in which they are handing over the country, and not the one Petro invents the night before in the midst of his madness,” reads the post from the account.

President Gustavo Petro reacted to the comment posted on X, believing it was one of the official accounts of the president-elect, and defended the actions promoted by his government in favor of education in Colombia.

“This is how the next government begins, by telling lies. It did so throughout the campaign with foreign funds. What the president-elect is denouncing is the policy of Duque, his ally, which we removed. The lost money is in governor’s offices and mayor’s offices, where it must be investigated (sic)”, he pointed out.