By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Saturday expressed regret over the arrest of his son, Nicolas, in connection with corruption involving his father’s election campaign and drug trafficking.
Petro, the country’s first leftist president while announcing the son’s arrest on Saturday, expressed hope that the development would shape his character.
He wrote on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X, that police arrested his son and the son’s ex-wife Daysuris Vasquez.
“I wish my son luck and strength. May these events build his character and may he reflect on his mistakes,” he stated.
“As a person and father it hurts to see so much self-destruction,” he added.
In March, Vasquez alleged that Nicolas Petro received large amounts of money from drug traffickers and smugglers in 2022 for his father’s successful presidential campaign.
He however diverted the funds and used it to live in luxury in the northern city of Barranquilla.
Prosecutors confirmed the arrest of the President’s son on charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment.
Vasquez, the ex-wife was also charged with that first offense.
Since the scandal broke, President Petro has denied receiving money from the country’s powerful cocaine lords.
He also asked for the investigation of his son.
Nicolas Petro was a lawmaker for his father’s party in the northern Atlantic department.
News outlets published bank records which indicates that he had far more money than would correspond to his salary from congress.
Vasquez once said in an interview that her former husband received the equivalent of $124,000 from a former drug trafficker named Samuel Santander Lopesierra.
Santander Lopesierra served 18 years in prison in the United States for drug trafficking.
