Petro, Benedetti and Sarabia: 3 keys to understanding the scandal that caused the rift between the president of Colombia and his inner circle

The inner circle that put Gustavo Petro in power broke apart with resounding violence.

His two closest advisers over the past year, Laura Sarabia and Armando Benedetti, left government on Friday amid a scandal that included cash, insults, treason, polygraphs, wiretaps and suspicions that the campaign was being illegally funded.

On Sunday, some audios were released of Benedetti, a longtime Colombian political operator, furious with Petro and Sarabia. Among other things, he says sensitive sentences: “we all sink, we all end, we go to jail, we finish all the bastards”.

Benedetti assures that the audio has been manipulated.

10 months ago, former guerrilla and parliamentarian Gustavo Petro became the first leftist president in the country’s history.

He put together a coalition government, full of figures who moderated his leftist figure and assuaged the fears born of his tenure as mayor of Bogotá, during which he fought with half the world, including his closest advisers.

Today, without having been in power for a year, the situation is different: much of the multi-party cabinet has been replaced by Petro’s old colleagues, the parliamentary coalition that wants to reform pensions and health has weakened and The opposition has an arsenal to demand the resignation of the head of state and accuse the government of winning by cheating.

These are three keys that will enable us to understand the scandal that could mark Petro’s presidency.

1. Who’s who

Armando Benedetti has had a political career spanning 30 years. He supported disparate governments: he passed through Uribismo and Santos. He is more interested in power than ideology. He has been investigated – although not convicted – of corruption.

Realizing that Petro could become president, he approached him and became his right-hand man during the campaign.

Laura Sarabia arrived at Petro through Benedetti. A young and industrious army officer, seven years ago she was recruited by Benedetti to become his private secretary. In the campaign he was the bridge between the two. At less than 30 years old, his influence skyrocketed.

However, the triumvirate of the campaign ended in the presidency: Petro appointed Benedetti ambassador to Venezuela, tasked with restoring relations marked by the peace negotiations with the ELN guerrillas. A key role, but far from Bogotá.

Sarabia, on the other hand, went from private secretary to chief of staff. The two crises of Petro’s ministers, in February and April, showed his power, his manner, the fact that no one had that much influence over the president.

To the comparison of the scandal Marelby’s Meza has been added, a babysitter who first worked with Benedetti, who fired her for an alleged robbery, and then with Sarabia.

A statement from Meza seven days ago to Semana magazine (which is accused of opposing Petro since he was a candidate) accusing Sarabia of kidnapping her and intercepting her phone over another alleged robbery led to this scandal.

2. What are the details of the scandal

Sarabia became pregnant in the middle of the campaign and almost gave birth at the time of the election. He never put his job aside, so as soon as the government started, he hired Benedetti’s old nanny, despite the history of an alleged robbery.

In January, Meza became the prime suspect in an investigation into the loss of $7,000 in cash from Sarabia’s home. Police officers and the prosecutor’s office made it submit to the lie detectora test in which she felt “kidnapped and threatened” in the same Presidency headquarters, the Palacio de Nariño.

To further complicate the situation, when Meza had already been fired by Sarabia, Benedetti called her and rehired her to take care of her children in Caracas, a city where she arrived by private plane, according to well-known Colombian journalist Daniel Coronell .

On Wednesday, the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, who was appointed by the government of Iván Duque, with whom he has a close relationship, gave a press conference denouncing that the investigation of this case led to a parallel judicial systemthat Meza’s interrogation was illegal and that illegal wiretapping was back in a country traumatized by the violation of political rights.

What started as a domestic crime on Saturday was a national scandal the following Friday.

Petro then announced the departure of Sarabia and Benedetti, adding: “This government does not illegally intercept communications from magistrates, judges, journalists, opponents. We take care of the opponents, nothing can happen to them because they are our responsibility”.

This Sunday, Semana magazine this time published some heated audios in which Benedetti seems to claim to Sarabia that they have isolated him and threatens to reveal details of a alleged illegal campaign finance.

Petro denied that same Sunday evening that his campaign “received money from people associated with drug trafficking, let alone 15,000 million processed,” a high figure of $3.4 million cited by Benedetti.

“Blackmail on public offices or contracts has not been accepted,” the president added.

3. What are the possible consequences

The scandal hits Petro at a difficult time: the approval of his major reforms in health, pensions and employment await approval in Congress, where he no longer holds the Senate presidency or a clear coalition, and his peace negotiations with armed groups are weakened.

“The scandal disrupts the coalition and complicates the agendasays Yann Basset, a political scientist at the Universidad del Rosario. “But it also draws attention to Petro rather than congressmen or the political class.”

“The clear danger for the government is that it has to spend its energy responding to and defending the scandal and that it cannot devote its energy to the reform agenda and that raises the specter of a paralyzed government,” Basset added.

The scandal, says the political scientist, has revoked the memory of Ernesto Samper’s administration, which spent four years responding to allegations of receiving money from drug trafficking in the campaign.

Silvia Otero, also a political scientist, says: “Although there is still no evidence of irregular funding, there is a political scandal and it is likely that, especially with this (opposition) prosecutor, an investigation will be opened in Congress, where Petro has no majority.”

“So, next is damage control: the government is committed to contain the consequences of these statements by Benedetti and that of course takes away the maneuverability.

During his Bogotá mayoralty, Petro remained in power alone, and much of his administration was devoted to defending himself. He usually attributes it to the reaction generated by the profound and unprecedented change he is proposing. He has three years and two months left in government.