March 20 (Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro is being examined in criminal investigations by two U.S. federal prosecutors’ offices, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Petro is not the focus of either investigation, but his conduct has surfaced in narco-terrorism and drug trafficking investigations being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, the source said.
“There are not ongoing investigations that are squarely focused on him,” the source told Reuters.
The New York Times first reported that U.S. prosecutors were scrutinizing Petro. According to the Times, the probes involve prosecutors focused on international narcotics trafficking, along with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.
The report said investigators are examining, among other things, Petro’s possible meetings with drug traffickers and whether his presidential campaign solicited donations from traffickers.
Petro said on X that he had never spoken to a drug trafficker and that he had always instructed his campaign managers never to accept funds from them.
“A thorough and intensive investigation into my presidential campaign did not uncover a single peso taken from drug traffickers,” Petro said.
The investigations are in the early stages and it is unclear whether they will result in charges, the Times said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment and the Brooklyn office did not immediately respond.
The Times reported that there was no indication that the White House had a role in initiating the investigations.
U.S.-COLOMBIA TENSIONS
Tensions between the two countries have been unusually strained in recent months, with U.S. President Donald Trump lashing out against Petro, accusing him of being a “sick man” who enabled cocaine trafficking from South America to the U.S.
While Colombian traffickers are the top producers of the drug, the nation is also one of the key allies of the U.S. in fighting the drug trade in the region.
Petro shot back at Trump’s allegations, highlighting the long-standing security work between the two countries and alleging that it was U.S. demand for the drug that fueled the market.
The two leaders appeared to reconcile in February in a White House meeting. Trump described Petro as “terrific” and Petro added that he had asked Washington to focus on the “kingpins” of the drug trade.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City, Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota, Luc Cohen in New York and Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Mark Porter and Cynthia Osterman)
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