Petro denounces Leyva’s attempt to destabilize: “I have been a victim of his slander.”

Gustavo Petro has reacted to the audios revealed by EL PAÍS in which Álvaro Leyva, his former foreign minister, discusses overthrowing him and replacing him with Vice President Francia Márquez. “For months, I have been a victim of Mr. Leyva’s slander, and I simply wanted to respond to what I considered a barbaric, cowardly act of revenge by someone who had genuinely helped,” he wrote on X.

Leyva sought to involve the U.S. government in the removal of the Colombian president. “I have decided to respond (with) letters and the facts presented here by the Spanish journalist Quesada in the newspaper El País,” he began his message. He then referred to the sanction that led to Leyva’s dismissal, linked to a fraudulent contract with the company that issues passports in the country. “As time passed, I did not want to accept dark dealings in the foreign ministry, such as the case of Thomas and Gregg, for which he was sanctioned by the prosecutor’s office; I also did not want his son to occupy the foreign ministry or an embassy, as if democracy were hereditary. The appointment of Laura Sarabia and Benedetti filled him with hatred. I must say that until recently, I did not learn of the request he made to Benedetti that was directed at me,” he stated, referring to his two right-hand men.

A few weeks ago, Leyva published letters accusing the president of being a drug addict and questioning his qualifications for the position. In very poor taste, he insinuated that Petro’s current foreign minister, who has served as his trusted person in recent years, provided him with substances and hinted at some relationship between them. “The Leyva case makes me think that the behavior of what I call the oligarchy, to which Leyva undoubtedly belongs, is double morality; they view the state as hereditary, with the right to do business with the treasury; they are incapable of establishing relationships based on respect for others and their arguments; it’s naive to think they would do that; for two centuries, betrayal, murder, and lies have been their norms. The national agreement becomes a mere illusion and rhetoric. They betray, although we must always insist on the agreement and peace,” he added in a message shared on his X account, where he has 8.2 million followers. Petro is an avid Twitter user and takes pride in the thousands of reactions that his continuous tweets evoke, which often set the agenda.

The president is currently in Spain, where he met with the Kings. The publication caught him by surprise. In light of this, he commented on the tragic history of the country: “Colombia is beautiful, but there is also much darkness in its history. They hide presidents who have been indigenous or black; they have murdered anyone who contradicts their power. They have dumbed down large sectors of the population by destroying public education and impoverishing them with their businesses.”

He accused Leyva’s son of trying to profit from his father’s position to conduct business: “In Santiago de Chile, Jorge, his son, arrived at the meal we had after the meeting. I cried during my speech at ‘La Moneda,’ as I had not been there; it commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Allende coup. I suppose that’s why he speaks of strange behaviors, issues related to my addiction to freedom. His son should not have followed us on our tours; it was inappropriate; he seemed like a business lobbyist taking advantage of his father’s public position.”

In a twist, he ended up talking about his visit to the home of one of the most famous poets in history. “I confess that with President Boric’s help, I escaped and was able to go to Isla Negra, to Pablo Neruda’s house, near Valparaíso. I loved Valparaíso, where young people in the bookstores greeted me, and I enjoyed buying Neruda’s books again and visiting his home. The poet of the sea and the voices of the oppressed. I try to escape, it’s true, to see the places from the books I’ve read,” he concluded.