Colombian magistrates investigate President Petro’s campaign financing – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Magistrates at Colombia’s electoral council have voted to open an investigation into an alleged violation of financing limits during Gustavo Petro’s presidential campaign.

The board of the National Electoral Authority also decided to investigate the CEO of state-controlled oil producer Ecopetrol SA, Ricardo Roa, over his role as head of the presidential campaign.

The case concerns alleged irregularities in the financing of President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign. The judges will examine contributions from public school teachers’ unions, oil workers and political parties, among others, as well as unreported campaign spending in violation of election rules, the election authority, known as CNE, said in a statement.

The decision marks a new confrontation between Petro and other branches of the state, with national courts overturning government decisions and some of the leftist leader’s key appointments. Reacting to the Electoral Council’s vote, Petro said in a short message on his social media account X that a “coup has begun.”

The attorney general’s office has also been investigating Roa and Petro’s son Nicolás, as well as trying to determine whether some of the campaign funds came from criminal sources.

Roa, who took over as head of Ecopetrol in April 2023, has denied any wrongdoing. Petro is trying to wean the country away from fossil fuels and has refused to sign new drilling permits, even though oil and coal account for about half of the country’s exports.

The Council of State, a Colombian high court, recently said that if the election authority finds that the presidential campaign violates financing rules, it can impose administrative sanctions but cannot impeach the president.

The court said a decision to remove a president from office must be made by a congressional committee.

No such decision was made, even though investigations showed that former President Ernesto Samper’s campaign in the 1990s was financed by drug cartels.

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