Segunda Marquetalia ordered the attack last year according to trial testimony.

Revelations that former FARC leaders ordered the 2025 killing of Miguel Uribe have heightened political tensions in the run-up to the May presidential elections.

The 39-year-old Colombian senator and presidential hopeful was gunned down by a Bogotá gang hired by the Segunda Marquetalia, an armed group created by disgruntled guerrillas hiding in Venezuela, according to testimony revealed in court.

The senator was shot down by a 15-year-old assassin at an open-air political rally in the barrio of Modelia in June, 2025. Uribe died of head wounds two months later.

After months of investigations and multiple arrests, state prosecutors were last week finally able to link the local gang that carried out the hit with the armed group.  

See also: Who ordered the murder of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe?

The breakthrough came during the trial of Bogotá-based gang leader Simeón Pérez Marroquín, also known as ‘El Viejo’, who admitted he had hired the local Plata o Plomo (‘Silver or Lead’) gang to carry out the killing on behalf of the Segunda Marquetalia armed group.

“The deal was that they would pay one billion pesos [US$270,000] for the senator’s death,” said Marroquín in a statement reported by magazine Semana.

Right hand man

Confirmation of involvement by an armed group founded by former FARC leaders sparked a political spat between front-runners for the upcoming presidential election.

Right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia was quick to accuse the Petro government of negotiating peace with the Segunda Marquetalia – even while the armed group was plotting the murder of Uribe.

See also: Peace Plan has caused more conflict, says thinktank

Valencia referred to Marroquín’s statements that the hit was organized by veteran guerrilla Zarco Aldinever, the right-hand man of the group leader Iván Márquez, in early 2025.

At this time Aldinever was nominated a ‘peace manager’ by the Petro government, meaning any arrest warrants were suspended and the rebel was free to roam. This despite the collapse of peace talks with the Segunda Marquetalia at the end of 2024.

Valencia further pointed to the closeness between her main election rival Iván Cepeda and leaders of the armed group.

Old photo

“The killer of Miguel Uribe is photographed hugging Iván Cepeda,” she wrote on X, attaching  a photo of her rival with Segunda Marquetalia founder Iván Márquez.  

In fact, the photo of Cepeda dated from the 2016 FARC peace talks, explained President Petro in a strongly worded statement defending his friend and political ally.

“The photo shows Iván Cepeda’s attempt to help [the Santos government] achieve peace. At that time, the entire FARC was ready for peace,” said.

Iván Márquez was number two in the FARC at the time and widely respected for his role in the negotiations.

Petro went on to blame his predecessor, right-wing president Iván Duque, for undermining the FARC peace process that forced former guerrilla leaders like Márquez back to arms and the Segunda Marquetalia.

Following the 2016 deal, some former FARC leaders had been “entrapped by state prosecutors with fake drug charges”, he said, leading to extradition requests from the United States.

Faced with this legal pressure several top commanders, including Iván Márquez and Jesus Santrich, fled to Venezuela in 2018 before emerging on video a year later to announce their new incarnation as the Segunda Marquetalia, named after the village in the Tolima department where the original FARC first formed in 1964.

The armed group was active in drug trafficking and illegal mining along the Colombia-Venezuela border, in the departments such as Vichada and Guainía, according to a profile by InsightCrime. The leadership is suspected of hiding out in Venezuela.

Another study by Fundacion Ideas para La Paz estimated the group to have 530 armed combatants in 2025, an increase of 15% on 2024, and work mostly in the eastern plains of Colombia.

A hunt is on

In a press conference on Tuesday, Valencia accused Cepeda and other left-wing lawmakers of backing the former FARC commanders in their legal battles back in 2018, creating a chain of events leading to the creation of recycled armed group.

“Congressmen like Cepeda defended [Marquéz and Santrich] …and didn’t allow them to be extradited. If these thugs had been extradited, Miguel Uribe would be alive today,” she said.

In his own press statement Cepeda called Valencia’s comments “a dirty political game” and issued a challenge to the candidate, and her political mentor right-wing former president Álvaro Uribe, to back up the accusations in court.

“It’s infamy to accuse me or President Petro to have any type of involvement in such a deplorable deed as the assassination of senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe,” he said.

Meanwhile this week the Colombian attorney general’s office launched a fresh hunt for the leaders of the Segunda Marquetalia, offering around million-dollar rewards for the capture of seven commanders including Iván Márquez and Zarco Aldinever.  

In fact, Aldinever was reported killed by rival armed group ELN in Venezuela during a squabble over a cocaine shipment in August last year – the same month that Miguel Uribe died – according to Colombian state forces at the time.    

This week Colombia’s Minister of Defense Pedro Sanchez walked back that claim saying no body had ever been found and that the initial report of Aldinever’s death – sent from the Segunda Marquetalia itself – could be disinformation.

“At this time, the position is clear: without a body there is no confirmation of death, and that is why all institutional resources remain active to locate him,” said Sanchez.

Underworld connections

Closer to home, the Segunda Marquetalia’s influence in Bogotá was under scrutiny after Simeón Marroquín’s testimony shed light on the murky connections with the city’s underworld.

Marroquín admitted that in previous decades he had acted as an urban operative for the FARC guerrillas, a hired gun ready to carry out orders in the city.

“I never wore camouflage, but while I was here in Bogotá, I was a miliciano. Guerrilla missions would come up, and I’d carry them out, but I was never in the ranks.”

His contacts with the FARC continued to the Segunda Marquetalia that tapped him for the Uribe killing.

Early in 2025, Marroquín was invited to a secret meeting in Cúcuta close to the Venezuelan border where, according to his testimony, Aldinever offered him one billion pesos for the crime (US$270,000) and another 600 million pesos (US$160,000) to “bribe the justice system” to deflect attention from the guerrilla group.

The motive for the killing was not clearly revealed by Marroquín, though a text message later found on his phone sent to his guerrilla paymasters talked of an “eye for an eye”, suggesting the former rebels were out for revenge.

Chilling revelation

Uribe was selected as an influential senator, scion of a right-wing political family, and popular candidate for this year’s presidential elections. He was also an easy target for assassins with his regular visits to communities where he had walkabouts to engage with local voters.

In the first few months of 2025, Marroquín worked his underworld connections to hire the Plata o Plomo gang which in turn lured the 15-year-old gunman who shot and wounded Miguel Uribe in a small park in the barrio of Modelia on June 7.

See also: Arrests made – but still questions in Uribe shooting.

Marroquín’s account paints a picture of a loose network of petty criminals lured by cash rather than political interests, ignorant of the details of both their intended target and the paymasters behind the plot.

The middleman saw the hit as a “good business opportunity” but also a chance to rekindle his role as urban operative for a guerrilla organization.

Marroquín’s plan unraveled after the 15-year-old gunman and various low-level gang members were detained in the hours and days following the June attack, creating a trail leading to his own capture in October.

“What’s done is done”

One chilling revelation was the order from above for Marroquín to kill low-level gang members to cut links to the guerrilla masterminds. This included murdering alias Gabriela, who transported the weapon and was present on the day of the shooting.

Marroquín refused to kill Gabriela, telling investigators “I didn’t have the heart for that because she was very young.” But he did send her by bus to the city of Florencia where the guerrillas were lying in wait.

#ATENCIÓN | "No hay palabras que justifiquen dicho acto, pero pues ya está hecho (…)", fueron las palabras con las que Simeón Pérez Marroquín, alias ‘El Viejo’, pidió perdón a la familia del senador y precandidato presidencial Miguel Uribe Turbay, tras reconocer que fue el… pic.twitter.com/btgnOsTEF7

— ÚltimaHoraCaracol (@UltimaHoraCR) March 20, 2026

The 19-year-old never made it; police investigators, already on Gabriela’s trail, organized for the bus to “break down” some miles before Florencia. Her arrest there and subsequent interrogation lead to Marroquín’s capture and eventual exposing of the links to the Segunda Marquetalia.

Last week, during the court process, Simeón Marroquín attempted to apologize for his role in the killing of Miguel Uribe.

“There are no words to justify my actions, but what’s done is done,” he said on camera from his cell, addressing his victim’s family – Uribe was married with four children – and asking forgiveness. He was then sentenced to 22 years in prison.

How quickly Colombian investigators can find Zarco Aldinever or other Segunda Marquetalia commanders, dead or alive, or hiding in Venezuela, remains to be seen.

The post Political tensions rise as guerrilla group revealed to be behind Miguel Uribe’s murder appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

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The disappearance of a U.S. flight attendant during a brief layover in Medellín has sparked an urgent search involving Colombian authorities, airline officials and U.S. representatives, as questions mount over his final hours in the city.

Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina, 32, an American Airlines crew member based in Dallas-Fort Worth, arrived in Colombia’s second-largest city late on Saturday as part of a routine flight rotation. He and fellow crew members were scheduled to remain overnight before returning to the United States on a flight to Miami early Sunday.

But Molina never made it back to the airport.

According to local broadcaster Telemedellín, Molina left his hotel Saturday night with a colleague and went to a nightclub in the city. There, they reportedly met two men and later decided to continue the evening elsewhere after the venue closed.

Hours later, Molina’s colleague was found disoriented by authorities and taken to a medical center. The circumstances surrounding what happened next remain unclear.

The last confirmed sighting of Molina occurred in the early hours of Sunday in Medellín’s La América neighborhood, a largely residential area not typically frequented by foreign visitors. Investigators say the timeline of events following that sighting is fragmented and under review.

A final digital trace from Molina came in the form of a message sent around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, sharing his location at an Airbnb property in El Poblado, a district known for its nightlife and popular among tourists. The location is roughly 20 kilometers from José María Córdova International Airport, where Molina had been expected to report for duty just hours later.

After that message, no further communication was recorded.

Friends and coworkers have since filed missing persons reports in both Medellín and Dallas, while Colombian authorities have activated an urgent search protocol. Officials have not ruled out any lines of investigation, including robbery, intoxication or other forms of assault.

Family members told local media that Molina had intended to use his layover to briefly explore Medellín’s nightlife, a common practice among airline crews on tight schedules. However, those who accompanied him that night have reportedly been unable to provide clear details about his last known movements.

One unconfirmed account suggests that while at the nightclub, Molina and his group were approached by a man who claimed to know the city well and offered to take them to other venues. Authorities have not substantiated this version of events and caution that it remains one of several hypotheses under consideration.

The case has drawn international attention, with American Airlines confirming it is working closely with Colombian law enforcement.

“We are actively engaged with local law enforcement officials in their investigation and doing all we can to support our team member’s family during this time,” the airline said in a statement to U.S. media.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants also said it is supporting efforts to locate Molina, describing the situation as deeply concerning for colleagues across the airline industry.

U.S. diplomatic officials in Colombia have been notified of the disappearance, though details of their involvement have not been made public.

The incident also highlights ongoing safety concerns tied to nightlife in Medellín. Authorities have repeatedly warned of cases in which foreign visitors are targeted in bars or nightclubs, sometimes through the use of drugs such as scopolamine — locally known as “burundanga” — which can leave victims disoriented, unconscious or vulnerable to theft.

While officials have not linked Molina’s disappearance to such substances, the fact that his colleague was found disoriented has added to concerns among investigators and the public.

Local data shows that Medellín has reported 124 missing persons cases so far this year. Of those, 104 individuals were later found alive, two were found dead, and 18 remain unaccounted for.

Officials have not indicated whether Molina’s case is linked to any broader pattern.

As the search continues, investigators are working to reconstruct Molina’s final movements through surveillance footage, phone data and witness testimony. For now, significant gaps remain in the timeline, complicating efforts to determine what happened after he left the nightclub.

Nearly a week after his disappearance, Molina’s whereabouts remain unknown, leaving family, friends and colleagues awaiting answers in a case that has quickly evolved from a routine layover into an international missing persons investigation.

EDITOR’S UPDATE:

On Friday, March 27, authorities confirmed the discovery of the body of American Airlines flight attendant and U.S. citizen Éric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina in a rural area of Puente Iglesias, between the municipalities of Fredonia and Jericó.

Gutiérrez Molina had been reported missing since Saturday, March 21, after he was last seen leaving a nightclub in Itagüí, south of the Aburrá Valley. For days, family members and officials held out hope he would be found alive. However, after nearly a week of intensive search efforts, those hopes were dashed.

His body was located roughly 100 kilometers from the last place he was seen, raising serious questions about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death.

Authorities are pursuing multiple lines of investigation. One of the leading hypotheses is that Gutiérrez Molina may have been drugged with scopolamine – commonly used by criminal networks in Colombia to incapacitate victims – before being robbed. Investigators believe he may then have been transported to the remote area of Puente Iglesias, either while still alive but disoriented, or after his death, in an apparent attempt to mislead authorities and hinder search efforts.

Weeks on from the first floods in northern Colombia, thousands of people remain without many of the basics and facing further problems. Find out what you can do to help.

The northern Colombian city of Montería was hit by extreme weather earlier this year, as exceptionally heavy rains flooded the city completely. Thousands of people in the capital of Córdoba have lost everything in the deluge.

While the relentless cycle of news marches on to discuss the upcoming elections, the families affected cannot. Their lives remain in ruins, with further problems coming as the water recedes. Most of the department is relatively poor, with the affected communities overwhelmingly from those in need even previous to this disaster.

The rains have lessened in severity, with fewer downpours and the water is slowly draining, but it will take years to undo the damage that it has wrought. The immediate emergency may be over for the time being, but the recuperation process will take long years to complete. 

What can you do to help those affected by the Córdoba floods?

Today, the charitable organisation Colombia Unida por Córdoba is launching a donation drive to help those hit by the rains to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible after the deluge. You can donate here to make your contribution to the campaign.

The money raised will go towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of households, schools and medical centres on the one hand and humanitarian assistance such as temporary housing and medical care on the other.

In the short term, thousands of people need immediate help, whether in terms of shelter or medically. Moving into the medium term there will be a need to both rebuild and restock a range of buildings to get people back to their regular lives.

Within the range of services that are needed by the communities under threat are not only physical and monetary assistance but also psychological help for those that have lost everything. Many farmers will need specialist advisory services to reestablish their fields.

The campaign seeks to bring Colombia together in order to help out a department battered by the effects of extreme weather, something that has grown in magnitude in recent years. It is a movement run both for and by Colombians.

Full transparency and auditing is at the core of the project, meaning you can check where the money is really going, unlike some of the larger international organisations. Moreover, the organisers are people who know the situation from firsthand experience.

The Cruz Roja Colombiana are also taking donations of clothes and building materials at their Salitre centre (Av.68 #68b-31), and you can donate money directly on this link. The local government in Bogotá, too, is organising donation drives on this link.

What’s the situation on the ground?

The capital of Córdoba, Montería, is the worst hit major city in the country, with thousands of people evacuated in the city and surrounds. Over 200,000 people have been directly affected by the rains. 

Everyone has been hit hard – 365 barrios across 25 muncipios. Hundreds of farms are underwater, houses have been inundated and 15 Indigenous reservations are among the list of those now facing an uncertain and perilous future.

A lot of infrastructure is in ruins too, with over 2,000km of roads submerged and hundreds of schools and medical centres unusable for at least the medium term and no sign of what comes next. Córdoba is a relatively poor department, without the resources that Medellín or Bogotá can call upon.

Sadly, politics have come into play here too, with Petro clashing with regional governor Erasmo Zuleta over the management of the department. The pair have had a lot of differences over the years. He also said he was initially unable to land in Córdoba due to the risk of an attack.

More reasonable are Petro’s claims that the situation has been exacerbated by water management systems such as reservoirs. These have diverted normal water flows and critically diminished the region’s ability to handle pressure from unusual weather patterns. Zuleta’s response is that the national government oversees the Urrá hydro plant.

The Caribbean coast has been hard hot elsewhere, with Uraba Antioqueño, La Guajira and Sucre joining Córdoba, and the Amazon and Pacific regions have also seen unusually high rainfall for the start of the year.

Even when the rains stop, the long term effects will take years to overcome. Already, bad actors are starting to take advantage of the situation, with desperate houseowners paying through the nose for boaters to rescue their belongings before thieves arrive.

Fields that are now underwater will take an age to fully drain and even longer to recover from the damage currently being wrought upon them. Thousands upon thousands of hectares of farmland will be unusable for the near future.

The post The Córdoba floods in Colombia: How You Can Help appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

If you’re the type of Mac, iPhone, or iPad user who likes to update their operating systems manually, you will want to pay attention to your devices after you have installed the latest iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and MacOS Tahoe 26.4 software updates, because installing those updates will enable automatic updates for system software. If ... Read More

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Colombian authorities are investigating whether mechanical failure, human error or excess weight caused the crash of a military C-130 aircraft that has now left at least 69 dead, as a political dispute intensifies over the condition of the country’s aging air fleet.

The aircraft, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules operated by the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC), went down shortly after take-off on Monday near Puerto Leguízamo, in a remote jungle region bordering Peru and Ecuador.

The plane, identified as FAC 1016, was carrying 128 personnel when it crashed minutes after departure en route to Puerto Asís, roughly 200 kilometres away. Officials have confirmed dozens of survivors, though many remain hospitalised with injuries ranging from minor trauma to severe burns.

Emergency crews faced major challenges reaching the crash site due to the dense Amazonian terrain, while the impact and subsequent fire — compounded by detonations from ammunition on board — left many bodies severely damaged, complicating identification efforts.

Aging aircraft under scrutiny

The C-130H aircraft had been in service since 1983 and was donated to Colombia by the United States in 2020 as part of long-standing bilateral defence cooperation. It underwent a major maintenance overhaul in 2023, including structural inspections and system upgrades, before being returned to operation.

Despite its age, military officials insist the aircraft remained within operational limits. General Carlos Fernando Silva publicly contradicted President Gustavo Petro’s description of the aircraft as “scrap”, presenting detailed figures on its operational life during a televised cabinet meeting alongside Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez and senior military officials.

General Silva said the aircraft had flown 345 hours between 2021 and 2024, and 537 hours in 2025, broadly in line with standard annual usage of around 500 hours. Based on remaining flight capacity — estimated at up to 20,000 hours — he said the aircraft could theoretically continue operating for decades if strict maintenance protocols were followed.

Concerns have emerged from U.S. defence officials regarding maintenance standards and the availability of spare parts for aircraft supplied to Colombia, according to reports by El Tiempo. Sources cited by the newspaper said such aircraft can operate safely for around 10,000 hours, provided rigorous inspection and servicing regimes are maintained.

United States Southern Command has offered to support Colombia’s investigation with a technical team, underscoring the importance of determining whether maintenance, logistics or operational factors contributed to the crash.

Authorities reiterated there is no indication the crash was caused by hostile action, despite the aircraft going down in a region where dissident factions of the former FARC operate and where coca cultivation is widespread.

Investigators are focusing on three main hypotheses: mechanical failure, pilot error, or overloading at take-off. Officials said flight data, maintenance records and communications with air traffic control will be central to establishing the sequence of events.

The disaster has triggered a heated political exchange between President Gustavo Petro and his predecessor Iván Duque, exposing sharp divisions over defence policy and military procurement.

Petro described the aircraft as “scrap”, criticizing past administrations for accepting donated military equipment and arguing that such decisions have weakened Colombia’s operational capacity. “A country cannot defend itself with obsolete machines,” he said, pledging that his government would prioritize acquiring new equipment and strengthening domestic defence production.

He also questioned the long-term cost of maintaining aging platforms, suggesting that donated equipment can ultimately impose higher financial and operational burdens.

Duque strongly rejected the accusation, defending his administration’s handling of the armed forces and pointing to maintenance protocols carried out before the aircraft was delivered. He noted that C-130 aircraft continue to operate in dozens of countries worldwide and urged a technical investigation into factors such as aircraft weight, runway conditions and operational procedures.

Duque also accused Petro of callous social media statements in the hours after the tragedy, calling for restraint while investigations remain ongoing.

The crash adds to six previous military aviation accidents since 2022 and raises deep concerns about the readiness and sustainability of Colombia’s air fleet, much of which relies on aging platforms acquired through international cooperation.

Analysts say the incident could intensify scrutiny over budget-cuts in defence spending, maintenance capacity and the balance between acquiring new equipment and extending the life of existing assets.

As recovery operations continue in Putumayo’s dense jungle, authorities face the dual challenge of identifying victims and providing answers to families, while determining whether the disaster reflects isolated failure or deeper systemic issues within Colombia’s military aviation infrastructure.

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At least 66 people were killed after a Colombian military transport aircraft crashed shortly after take-off in the country’s southwest on Monday, authorities said, in one of the deadliest air disasters involving the armed forces in recent years.

The aircraft, a C-130 Hercules, went down at around 9:50 a.m. local time near the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, in a remote jungle region close to the borders with Peru and Ecuador.

According to Colombia’s Defence Ministry, 128 people were on board the aircraft, including 11 crew members from the Colombian Aerospace Force, 115 members of the army and two police officers.

By late Monday, officials confirmed 66 fatalities: six from the air force, 58 from the army and two from the police. Rescue teams managed to evacuate 57 survivors, many of whom sustained injuries. Eight were transferred to hospitals in Florencia, while 49 were flown to Bogotá, where 19 are being treated at the Military Hospital and others for less serious injuries at a military medical facility.

Authorities said one soldier survived unharmed, while four others remained missing as search operations continued in dense jungle terrain.

The aircraft, identified as FAC 1016, had taken off from Puerto Leguízamo en route to Puerto Asís, roughly 200 kilometres away, when it lost altitude and crashed within minutes of departure.

Military officials said the plane went down about two kilometres from the airport in a rural area. Witnesses reported a fireball upon impact, followed by secondary explosions.

Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the situation was worsened by the detonation of ammunition being transported by troops on board.

“As a consequence of the fire, part of the ammunition carried by the personnel exploded,” Sánchez said, complicating rescue and recovery efforts.

Emergency crews faced significant challenges accessing the crash site due to the remote Amazonian terrain, while the condition of many bodies has made identification difficult.

No signs of attack

Military authorities said there is no evidence so far that the crash was caused by an attack.

“At this time, there is no information or indication that this was the result of an attack by any illegal armed group,” said General Hugo López, who added that a full investigation is underway.

The region where the aircraft crashed is known for the presence of dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla group, which operate in areas with extensive coca cultivation used for cocaine production. However, officials stressed that current evidence points away from sabotage.

Questions over aircraft condition

The crash has triggered a political debate over the condition of Colombia’s military fleet, just weeks ahead of the country’s presidential elections.

The aircraft involved was a C-130H Hercules, an older variant of the widely used military transport plane originally introduced in the 1960s by Lockheed Martin.

According to available data, the aircraft had been in service since the early 1980s and was transferred to Colombia by the United States in 2020.

President Gustavo Petro suggested the plane represented outdated equipment acquired by a previous administration.

“In 2020, scrap was purchased,” Petro said on social media, referring to the government of former president Iván Duque. He added that his administration had sought to modernize military equipment but faced bureaucratic obstacles.

Opposition figures, however, argued that budget cuts under Petro’s government have affected maintenance and operational readiness within the armed forces.

In a message posted online, Petro expressed condolences to the families of the victims and praised residents of Putumayo who rushed to assist survivors.

“This is how a nation is built,” he wrote, thanking locals who reached the crash site on foot and by motorcycle to provide water and aid.

Authorities said the investigation will examine technical, mechanical and operational factors, including maintenance records and flight data, as Colombia seeks answers to a tragedy that has shaken the country’s military and reignited debate over defence policy.

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Ricardo Roa was appointed CEO of Ecopetrol after serving as Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s campaign manager. The Presidential campaign is also under investigation for campaign finance violations.

The controversy surrounding the filing of charges against Ricardo Roa Barragán, president of Colombia´s oil and energy company, Ecopetrol, has taken a new turn following the leak of an internal report suggesting that more than $42 million USD may have been transferred to a private company based in the British Virgin Islands.

According to disclosed information, “the media outlet 6AM W obtained documents showing the link between the USD 42 million payment made by Ecopetrol and a company connected to Serafino Iácono,” as stated by the outlet itself.

It is important to recall that on March 11, Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la Nación – FGN) formally charged Ricardo Roa Barragán with the alleged crime of influence peddling by a public official. According to the accusation, the executive allegedly intervened to favor a third party (Serafino Iácono) in the assignment of a gasification project in exchange for personal benefits. The FGN stated that Roa “ordered that a specific person be assigned to a gasification project in exchange for a reduction in the price of an apartment” located in northern Bogotá. During the hearing, the executive did not accept the charges.

Regarding the leaked documents, 6AM W reports that the published material “is a memorandum produced following a communication between the lawyers of Miller & Chevallier, hired by Ecopetrol, and Charles Cain, head of the Anti-Corruption Unit for Foreign Operators at the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).” This suggests that the document is an internal Ecopetrol report produced in 2024.

Additionally, the report includes references to an “audit commissioned by Ecopetrol to Control Risks, which identifies Iácono as a possible beneficiary of the alleged irregular payment of $42 million USD made through a purchase option” of power generation plants linked to the company Genser, associated with the businessman.

The leaked documents can be accessed through the Caracol Radio website via “Las contradicciones de Ecopetrol y Serafino Iácono en el caso del apartamento de Roa y Termomorichal.”

For his part, Serafino Iácono issued a statement, published by La República via the social network X, in which he affirms that since April 7, 2017, he has had no relationship with the company and that the transaction in question took place in 2023, after his departure.

At this stage, although the information has been reported by the media, judicial decisions remain under the authority of Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office, which is leading the proceedings against Ricardo Roa. Iacono said that he would be filing suit against Control Risks, and hired well-known Colombian lawyer Jaime Lombana Villalba to begin the process.

For further context, readers are encouraged to consult the article “Colombia’s Top Prosecutor Charges Ecopetrol President in Alleged Influence-peddling Case,” published by Finance Colombia.

Beyond the communications previously issued and reported by Finance Colombia in the aforementioned article, no new official statements have been released by Ecopetrol’s board of directors since March 12, prior to the information leak. Finance Colombia has reached out to Iacono for comment and will report any additional information.

U.S. federal prosecutors have opened preliminary criminal investigations into Colombian President Gustavo Petro over alleged links to drug traffickers and possible illicit financing of his 2022 campaign, according to a report by The New York Times.

The previously undisclosed probes are being conducted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn and involve specialists in international narcotics trafficking, as well as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Investigators are examining, among other issues, whether Petro held meetings with individuals connected to drug trafficking networks and whether his presidential campaign solicited or received donations from such actors. The two investigations are being carried out independently and remain in their early stages, with no certainty that they will lead to formal criminal charges.

There is no indication that the White House played any role in launching the investigations, according to the report. However, the inquiries emerge in a broader context of heightened tensions and fluctuating diplomacy between Bogotá and Washington.

Relations between Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump have been volatile, marked by sharp public exchanges, threats of tariffs that were never implemented, and the temporary revocation of Petro’s U.S. visa. Trump has repeatedly accused Petro of failing to curb narcotics production and has described him in highly critical terms, while Petro has denounced what he characterises as political pressure and interference.

The U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on Petro, members of his family and senior officials, including Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, alleging links to narcotics activity. The measures, which included asset freezes and travel restrictions, were justified by Washington on the grounds that cocaine production in Colombia had reached record levels and that the government had offered concessions to armed groups involved in trafficking.

Petro has rejected those claims, insisting that his administration has strengthened seizures of cocaine and slowed the rate of expansion of coca cultivation. He has also denied any knowledge of illicit funds entering his campaign, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated attacks.

Colombia’s Attorney General  is examining charges that Petro’s son – Nicolás Petro – received money from individuals linked to illicit activities during the 2022 campaign. While his son acknowledged receiving funds that were not reported, no criminal charges have been filed against the president himself, and Petro has maintained he was unaware of the campaign “donations”.

According to the NYT, the U.S. investigations are taking place amid a broader strategy in which Washington has increasingly used legal and judicial tools to advance foreign policy objectives. Analysts say such actions could serve as leverage in bilateral relations or influence political dynamics in allied countries.

The timing of the probes is particularly sensitive, as Colombia prepares for presidential elections on May 31, with a potential runoff in June. Petro, the country’s first leftist president, is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election but has actively backed his political successor with hardleftist Iván Cepeda.

The allegations could reverberate through the electoral campaign, where relations with the United States remain a central issue. Candidates on the right have emphasised the importance of maintaining close ties with Washington, while figures on the left have framed U.S. actions as a challenge to Colombia’s sovereignty.

Despite months of tensions, diplomatic relations between the two countries have shown signs of stabilisation in recent weeks. Petro and Trump held a bilateral meeting at the White House earlier this year, which both sides described as constructive, and officials have since sought to rebuild communication channels.

Even so, uncertainty persists over the trajectory of the relationship, particularly as Washington continues to prioritise counternarcotics cooperation with Colombia, historically one of its closest partners in the region.

Petro has consistently denied any links to drug trafficking and has pointed to his government’s security strategy, which includes negotiations with armed groups and efforts to reduce violence, as evidence of a broader approach to the drug trade.

The start of U.S. investigations add a new layer of complexity to an already fraught political and diplomatic landscape, with potential implications not only for Petro’s post-presidential future but for Colombia’s ties with its most important security ally.

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Nine months after the shooting of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay in a leafy Bogotá park, the gang behind the killing have been rounded up and are facing justice.

The masterminds, though, are still at large. Circumstantial evidence points to a political assassination called in by an ex-FARC faction called the Segunda Marquetalia. But other theories exist.

And as the country prepares for the next rounds of elections, the youthful Uribe – seen by many as a presidential hopeful – is conspicuous by his absence.

We look back at killing that rocked Bogotá in 2025, and who might be behind it.

How did the shooting unfold?

Uribe was gunned down in Parque El Golfito, a green space in bustling Modelia on the western edge of Bogotá, on June 7, during a walkabout in the barrio where he met local business owners and climbed on a beer crate to deliver an impromptu address to a small crowd.

See also: Miguel Uribe hospitalized after assassination attempt

The senator was shot at close range twice in the head by a 15-year-old gunman wielding a Glock pistol in the crowd, who then fled but was himself shot in the leg by Uribe’s protection squad and captured in a nearby street.

Uribe was hospitalized and underwent several emergency surgeries before dying from his wounds on August 11, more than two months later.

Who was Miguel Uribe?

The 39-year-old senator was nationally recognized and scion of a political family. His grandfather Julio César Turbay was president from 1978 to 1982, and his mother the journalist Diana Turbay kidnapped by the Medellín cartel in 1991 who died in a botched rescue attempt, a tragedy immortalized by Gabriel García Márquez in his non-fiction book News of a Kidnapping.

Even though he was raised as a legacy politician, and a key candidate for the right-wing Centro Democratico, Uribe nevertheless garnered support across the political spectrum for his hard work and attention to detail, more technocrat than populist, and potentially a unifying figure.

It was perhaps typical of Uribe that the day he was shot he in an unsung corner of the city meeting everyday folks.

What was the impact of his assassination?

Many mourned the loss of the young senator, married with four children.  In reality, Uribe’s death was just one of many in Colombia during 2025 with 187 social leaders and human rights defenders murdered nationwide, according to data from conflict thinktank Indepaz.

The senator’s killing had an outsized impact for several reasons. First, Bogotá, unusually for a megacity, has almost half the homicide rate than many smaller cities and some rural areas with long-running conflicts between gangs and armed groups.

Secondly, the many feared Uribe’s attack signaled a return to the 1980s when a wave of political killings – usually by extreme right-wing forces against left wing targets in cahoots with drug cartels – plagued Bogotá and many other Colombian cities.

But united condemnation of the attack quickly degenerated to finger-pointing between political factions with Uribe’s lawyer filing a complaint against President Gustavo Petro for alleged “harassment” of the senator.

Was Petro to blame?

An early theory floated by the late senator’s lawyer was that the attack was a “hate crime”, which in Colombia covers persecution for ideological views. The argument went that Petro crossed the line with his itchy Twitter finger: in their complaint the lawyer presented a 20-page document with 42 presidential tweets disparaging Uribe. 

While acknowledging that Petro was in no way linked to the physical attack, he had created a “favorable environment” for anyone with a serious grudge to take out the senator, said the lawyers, though this didn’t explain why a 15-year-old – not a likely candidate for political grievances – was coerced to pull the trigger.

And by the end of June new evidence emerged from the shooter himself. The youth didn’t even know who his target was the senator, or indeed who was Miguel Uribe.

And other pieces of the puzzle fell into place, clarifying that the shooter was hired for cash by an organized criminal gang that had planned the killing in detail.

If it was so well planned, why did they get caught?

Good question. The contract killers calling themselves Plata o Plomo (‘Silver or Lead’) left a trail of evidence starting with the wounded gunman captured with minutes of the shooting.

Next to fall was Carlos Mora, alias ‘El Veneco’, who drove the young assassin, followed a few days later by 19-year-old Katherine Martínez, alias ‘Gabriela’, who delivered the pistol.

Gabriela’s arrest gave the first clues to a wider conspiracy: the webcammer was tracked down to the regional capital of Florencia, Caquetá, a jungle department of Colombia with high presence of armed groups.

CCTV footage from Modelia placed her inside the car with the gunman, and she later confessed to transporting the gun itself.With CCTV footage, and information from Gabriela and El Veneco, other key members of the gang were soon rounded up including two other getaway drivers and a middleman for hiring the 15-year-old.

Seems like a very amateur operation…

Plata o Plomo was a loose group of criminals drawn from the Bogotá underworld, and many had worked together before. The leader was Elder José Arteaga, alias Chipi, who in a rather unlikely twist also ran a hair salon in Engativá.

When not trimming beards, Chipi was immersed in crime with a history of extortion, violence and armed robbery, and was  linked to the murder of a Mexican businessman in Medellín in 2024.

See also: Arrests made but still questions in Uribe shooting.

He was also quite ruthless: according to Gabriela, Chipi was planning to cover his tracks by killing both El Veneco and the 15-year-old hired assassin. Being captured early likely saved their lives.

Chipi himself became the subject of a national manhunt until his luck ran out on July 5. He was captured hiding in a house in Engativá by a special police unit a month after the shooting, just a few kilometers from where it took place.

So, case closed?

Not so fast. Chipi was just one link in a longer chain. According to Gabriela, now a key witness, the hairdresser  told her the murder contract was for 700 million pesos, around US$190,000.

This amount of cash pointed to a bigger player. 

In Colombia there are plenty of candidates to choose from, and no shortage of pundits to point the finger.

Examples please?

Sure. Journalist and presidential hopeful Vicky Dávila accused Iván Mordisco, commander of the Estado Mayor Central – EMC – a dissident FARC faction fighting the state in the southwest of the country. She claimed to have insider information from military intelligence that also pointed to the likelihood of more assassinations of right-wing figures.

Her theory was backed by interior minister Armando Benedetti, who also saw reason for the EMC to stir up trouble in Bogotá as revenge for the war being waged against the group in Cauca.

However, no direct evidence was presented, and that the EMC denied any involvement, calling the allegations “a media strategy”.

Petro claimed involvement by the mysterious “Board”, a mythical super-cartel fused from drug gangs, guerrillas and paramilitaries. Petro portrayed himself as another potential victim: The Board was also plotting his own assassination, he said.

Wow. Anyone and everyone could have done it.

Exactly. Pick the political flavor of your favorite conspiracy.  More fanciful pitches were that the extreme right had planned it themselves to stoke a coup against Petro – who would likely get the blame – and at the same time eliminate the popular Uribe from the candidate’s list.

Or that the extreme left wanted to take out an effective political opponent from the presidential race.

One problem for investigators was the complex networks between criminal gangs, drug cartels and guerrilla groups, partly worsened by Petro’s Total Peace plan which had split armed groups into smaller and more dangerous factions.

See also: Peace Plan has caused more conflict, says thinktank

The Plata o Plomo gang was clearly working for financial gain. But despite capturing eight members by the end of August, the important detail of who paid them – and why – was yet to be revealed.

Maybe the gang was scared to reveal the backers?

Quite likely. In the dog-eat-dog world of Colombian crime, and where people in jail are regularly murdered, spilling the beans is not recommended. But one more key suspect was emerging:  a mysterious character known as ‘El Viejo’.

His capture came at the end of October after months of police work. Clues emerged from messages from El Viejo on Gabriela’s phone. She also confessed to transporting guns and explosives for him on various occasions in Bogotá.

Soon police had a name, Simeón Pérez Marroquín, and a place, in a remote fortified farmstead on the vast plains of Meta. A helicopter team swooped in and took him back to Bogotá.

So where did El Viejo lead?

El Viejo, the ninth capture in the Uribe case, was the most significant. While Chipi coordinated the killing on the ground, it seems El Viejo was closer to the backers.

Another key detail suggests the plot was months in the making: El Viejo was stalking Uribe in March, three months before the shooting in Modelia, and making notes on the senators movements and bodyguards.

Moreover, El Viejo, while living partly in Usme in the south of Bogotá, and on the farm in Meta, also had links to an area of Caquetá known as a stronghold of Segunda Marquetalia.

Segunda Marquetalia? Sounds more like a Cuban singer…

In fact, a recycled FARC guerrilla group named after the original rebel hideout in Tolima. Its leaders were senior commanders who abandoned the peace process in 2019 after persecution by the right-wing Duque government and threats to extradite them to the U.S.

State prosecutors accused some of drug trafficking, charges the commanders claimed were invented. According to Insight Crime, the group lead by Iván Márquez – formerly number two in the FARC – reactivated rebel units in both Colombia and Venezuela, where the group had hidden camps.

But in 2021 Colombian special forces pursued the leaders in Venezuelan territory killing three of the top commander. Further fighting in 2022 wounded Márquez, in fact he was declared dead by Colombian authorities before reappearing in a video in 2024, though he is rumoured to have suffered severe injuries.

A reason to get angry?

Perhaps. A plausible theory is that the Segunda Marquetalia was seeking revenge and targeted Miguel Uribe as a visible – and vulnerable – figure of the Colombian right wing.

Colombian prosecutors claim to have found a digital trail linking El Viejo with the “criminal circle” of Iván Márquez’s armed group. And his stalking of Uribe months before the shooting suggests a long-term plot.

And if such a plot existed, it coincided with the breakdown of peace talks between Petro’s government and the Segunda Marquetalia at the start of 2025, perhaps another spur to action.

But this evidence is yet to be tested in court.  El Viejo is jailed while awaiting trial for aggravated homicide, even while prosecutors are offering him a legal deal for information leading to the ultimate masterminds.

So will El Viejo talk?

That’s what investigators are hoping for. Two of the gang so far sentenced, Gabriela and El Veneco, have collaborated for reduced sentences, both getting 20 years in jail.

With presidential elections in May, and candidates on the stump, Colombia needs clarity.

The post Who ordered the murder of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe? appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Colombian authorities on Wednesday arrested Ángel Esteban Aguilar Morales, alias “Lobo Menor”, an alleged senior figure in the Ecuadorian criminal group Los Lobos and suspected intellectual author behind the 2023 assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

The arrest took place at El Dorado International Airport, where Aguilar Morales arrived on a commercial flight from Mexico, according to Colombia’s migration authority.

Officials said the suspect attempted to evade detection using false identification as a Colombian citizen, but biometric verification and international intelligence-sharing mechanisms exposed his true identity. He was detained under an Interpol red notice and handed over to judicial authorities pending extradition proceedings.

Aguilar Morales is considered a high-ranking member of Los Lobos, an Ecuador-based criminal organization linked to narcotrafficking, contract killings, illegal mining, and broader transnational crime. Authorities allege he played a central role in planning the killing of Villavicencio, whose assassination during the 2023 campaign sent shockwaves across the region.

The arrest comes at a delicate moment in bilateral relations. Colombia and Ecuador are this week attempting to defuse a growing diplomatic and security crisis following the discovery of an unexploded device inside Colombian territory near the border between the departments of Nariño and Putumayo. The incident has triggered sharp exchanges between the governments of President Gustavo Petro and Ecuador’s leadership, amid mutual accusations over cross-border security threats.

Colombia’s migration chief Gloria Esperanza Arriero López said the capture underscores the country’s determination to confront transnational criminal networks, particularly as tensions with Ecuador highlight the porous and contested nature of the shared border.

“This result demonstrates that Colombia has strong institutions and coordinated security forces working to close the space for criminal organizations, regardless of their origin,” Arriero said.

Colombian officials said Aguilar Morales had been under surveillance following intelligence tracking his movements through Medellín and Itagüí before traveling to Mexico. Authorities credited close cooperation with Mexican counterparts for locating and intercepting him as part of a multinational operation referred to by Petro as “Jericó.”

Petro described the suspect as one of the most significant figures linked to the Villavicencio assassination and alleged ties to dissident Colombian armed factions, including networks associated with “Iván Mordisco,” as well as Mexican cartels — evidence, he said, of the expanding integration of regional criminal economies.

According to investigators, Aguilar Morales had previously been sentenced in Ecuador to 20 years in prison for murder in 2013, but was granted conditional release in 2022 after serving half his sentence. Authorities allege he used falsified documents to meet legal reporting requirements while continuing criminal operations across borders.

The arrest marks a major development in the Villavicencio case and comes as Ecuador grapples with escalating violence linked to organized crime and drug trafficking routes. The slain candidate had campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and vowed to dismantle criminal networks, placing him squarely in their crosshairs.

Colombian authorities said the capture also demonstrates the importance of trilateral coordination between Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico in dismantling organized crime structures. Aguilar Morales is expected to face extradition as Ecuador seeks to prosecute those responsible for orchestrating the assassination.

The timing of the arrest — against the backdrop of rising diplomatic tensions and border security concerns — is likely to reinforce calls for deeper regional cooperation to address increasingly interconnected criminal threats operating across the Andes.

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On March 8, for the first time in Colombia’s history, an artificial intelligence candidate appeared on ballot papers across the country. 

Gaitana IA (AI) ran for the Indigenous seat in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the northern state of Sucre.

While Gaitana did not win a seat in either of the country’s legislative bodies, it has sparked debate about the role of AI in Colombian politics.

With the ballots counted, Gaitana won a total of under 3,000 votes – less than 2% of the total votes for the Indigenous seat – suggesting that many people remain skeptical of this new digital approach.

Many questions have emerged surrounding Gaitana, such as why the Registraduría—the Colombian entity in charge of validating and accepting candidates—permitted this unprecedented candidacy, or what the intentions were behind the AI.

“Many local media outlets talked about an AI going to Congress, but that is not the case; they are humans leading the project,” Gaitana’s co-founder, Natalia Aase, told The Bogotá Post. 

“It is actually a consensus tool developed by our community members, between 14 and 25 years old, from the Senú community of Reparo Torrente, in Coveñas,” she explained.

Rather than planning for the AI to assume office, Gaitana was devised as a democratic experiment underpinned by real human candidates

Aase detailed how the platform was designed to work: Colombian citizens could subscribe through a link to virtually participate and propose various debates regarding topics such as healthcare, women’s rights, and more. These interactions would also feed the AI database.

Once an initiative reached a collective consensus, the people occupying the seats in Congress would “decide the direction of the proposed laws.”

The two humans represented by Gaitana were Carlos Redondo Rincón, a Mechatronics Engineer from the Senú community, who was running for Senate, and Luz Rincón, an Embera-Katio Indigenous sociologist, who was seeking a seat in the House of Representatives.

The co-founder of Gaitana also revealed that the team conducted deep research into global democratic models, such as the one in Norway, and compared them with their own community dynamics.

As the research advanced, the team found that their community in Senú had already established a model of social interaction that worked well, prompting them to launch a digital project modeled on their own practices.  

This meant digitizing their traditional way of reaching a consensus; in the Senú community, men, women, and youth gather around tables to discuss specific topics, such as women’s health or local fishing.

“Gaitana IA is not a generative AI; it is a participatory AI. What does that mean? Well, it is not ChatGPT. Instead, it takes the information provided by the users and organizes it,” pointed out Aase. “Transparency and security are the most important things for us; that is why we use blockchain technology—a system of blocks—to power this platform.”

According to Aase, the project was born from a motivation to prevent corruption and explained that with ‘Gaitana AI’, the decisions are not made by a single person but must be approved by at least 100 people. 

“You might be able to manipulate one individual, but you cannot manipulate a hundred if you don’t even know who they are,” she concluded.

The post ‘Gaitana IA’: The AI candidate that ran in Colombia’s elections appeared first on The Bogotá Post.