Petro investigated for alleged political interference during electoral campaigns in Colombia

The Investigation and Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives opened a disciplinary investigation against the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, for alleged undue interference in politics through posts made on the social network X between 2023 and 2025.

The decision adopted by the investigating representative Gloria Isabel Ariza states that 15 messages disseminated from the official’s personal account may be related to activities or controversies of a political-partisan nature and orders the practice of evidence to determine if they constitute a disciplinary offense.

According to the court order, the publications “possess sufficient substance to justify the initiation of investigative activity” aimed at verifying the reported facts, establishing the circumstances in which they occurred, and determining their potential legal relevance.

Among the ordered proceedings is the inclusion in the file of the publications, screenshots, and other digital material collected during the preliminary action, as well as the technical verification of the content identified on the social network X.

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The Judicial Police assigned to the Commission must also validate the authenticity of the messages, identify the data associated with the publications, document elements such as dates, links, and potential administrators, and guarantee the chain of custody of the collected material.

Likewise, the Commission requested the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre) to certify, within a period of five days, whether the president’s account (@petrogustavo) has been registered, recognized, or used institutionally as an official communication channel of the president.

Intervention in electoral politics

The agency also requested information regarding the departments, officials, contractors, or advisors who have had access to the account, the devices used for its administration, and the protocols for the creation, review, approval, publication, modification, and deletion of content.

Likewise, he requested a copy of the institutional policies or instructions related to the use of social media and participation in politics, as well as information about the press, communications, and digital strategy teams of the Presidency since the beginning of the current term.

The opening of this action takes place in the midst of the campaign for the presidential runoff on June 21, in which the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella and the leftist senator Iván Cepeda will compete for the Presidency after having obtained 10.3 million votes (43.74%) and 9.7 million (40.90%), respectively, in the first round.

In Colombia, public officials are prohibited from intervening in political activities or electoral controversies, with the exception of exercising their right to vote. Furthermore, the president has constitutional immunity, meaning they cannot be investigated or tried by ordinary justice while in office. 

The Constitution establishes that the Investigation and Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives is the competent body to receive and investigate complaints against the head of state for possible crimes or disciplinary offenses.