The Colombian President, Gustavus Petroasked the Public Prosecution Service this Thursday to determine whether his son and brother offered peace policy benefits to drug traffickers in exchange for money.

“Because of the information rumored in the public opinion my brother Juan Fernando Petro Urrego and my eldest son Nicolás Petro BurgosI ask the The Attorney General of the nation conducts all necessary investigations and determine possible responsibilities,” the leftist president said in a statement.

The government itself has denounced the existence of a cartel that bribes prisoners in prisons to offer them false mediation in peace processes, legal benefits or promises to avoid extradition. “My government will not grant benefits to criminals in exchange for bribes,” the statement stressed.

“I trust that my brother and my son can prove their innocence, but I will respect the conclusions of justice,” Petro added in the text.

“We are going in the wrong direction,” was one of the recurring statements in March against Gustavo Petro’s administration in Colombia

His brother appeared before the public prosecutor’s office for these complaints at the beginning of February, in a reserved 40-minute statement. That day, Juan Fernando Petro’s lawyer assured that his client is a “victim” of a network of lawyers using his name to advance alleged efforts for the government.

In early 2022, in the midst of the presidential campaign, Juan Fernando went to a prison in Bogotá to meet several inmates. According to the press, at this meeting he offered benefits to those convicted of corruption and drug trafficking in a possible government of his brother. The candidate at the time, Gustavo Petro, denied this version and assured that his brother was not part of the campaign.

On his side, Nicolás Petro is a deputy for his father’s political movement in the department of Atlántico (north).

With his “total peace” policy, Petro seeks the peaceful dismantling of drug gangs in exchange for criminal and economic benefits for those who leave the company in the country that produces the most cocaine in the world.

According to the magazine Weekthe lawyer cartel would charge the drug traffickers up to a million dollars in exchange for being placed on lists of “peace managers” who cannot be extradited.

The government has announced a bill setting maximum sentences of eight years and the ability to withhold up to 10% of their fortune from drug traffickers who take legal action.