Since the start of President Gustavo Petro’s administration, the intelligence agency has had four directors, highlighting instability within one of the institutions responsible for state security.

The resignation of Wilmar Mejía as chief of Colombia’s National Intelligence Agency has highlighted instability within the country’s main intelligence agency under the government of President Gustavo Petro, which has seen four leadership changes over the past three years.

Mejía confirmed his departure on April 1 in an interview with Canal 1. “When the Inspector General’s Office lifted my suspension, I went to sign my reinstatement document and within 15 minutes I submitted my resignation. I am no longer the director of intelligence,” he said.

The official had been suspended since December 23, 2025, by the Inspector General’s Office as part of a disciplinary investigation “for alleged links to and the provision of information to members of dissident factions of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).” The Inspector Office said at the time that the measure aimed to prevent possible interference with the process.

Investigation into alleged links to guerrilla dissidents

The case is related to the seizure of digital files belonging to Alexander Díaz Mendoza, known as “Calarcá Córdoba,” a leader of one of the dissident structures grouped under the Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente (EMBF). Authorities say the documents point to possible contacts with the former intelligence chief.

Mejía has denied any involvement and has argued that the accusations are part of alleged “setups aimed at silencing reports of internal corruption.”

According to the Inspector Office, the investigation “includes possible acts such as the disclosure of military force communication frequency codes and support in the creation of security companies that could facilitate the legalization of weapons in the event of a breakdown in peace talks with the government.”

So far, neither the Inspector General’s Office nor the Attorney General’s Office has concluded its investigations, and no determination of responsibility has been made.

The case has raised concerns about state security and the institutional stability of the agency, considered a key body for the country’s strategic intelligence.

Local media outlets such as El Colombiano have reported that the situation has affected trust among international intelligence partners, suggesting that agencies such as the CIA (United States), MI6 (United Kingdom), and Mossad (Israel) have restricted the sharing of strategic information with Colombia.

Four directors in just over three years

Since Petro took office, the agency has had four directors, all of them close to the president through their past involvement in the M-19 guerrilla group, which signed a peace agreement in 1990.

The instability dates back to the beginning of Petro’s administration. Since August 2022, when Manuel Alberto Casanova Guzmán was appointed, the agency has undergone repeated leadership changes.

Casanova, who faced criticism over his lack of intelligence experience and background as a philosopher, was removed following allegations of involvement in a false extortion case linked to then-Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, as reported by Infobae.

He was succeeded by Carlos Ramón González, who later left the post amid investigations into his alleged role in the corruption scandal involving Unidad Nacional de Gestión de Riesgo y Desastres (UNGRD). He is currently in Nicaragua under political asylum, while Colombia has requested his extradition and Interpol has issued a red notice.

Finally, just before Mejía, the agency was led by Jorge Lemus, who served for nearly a year before resigning. He was subsequently appointed by Petro as director of the Unidad de Información y Análisis Financiero (UIAF), amid growing allegations of possible infiltration within the country’s security institutions.

Unseasonal heavy rains and severe flooding across northern Colombia have created a full-blown humanitarian crisis, displacing hundreds of thousands, destroying homes and farmland, and pushing local infrastructure and health systems to breaking point.

The disaster has hit hardest in the department of Córdoba, where officials say 156,000 people have been affected and 80% of the territory remains underwater following rainfall that broke historical records for February, traditionally one of the region’s driest months.

“In one day we received the amount of rain expected for an entire month,” Ghisliane Echeverry, director of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam), told ministers during a government emergency council meeting.

The flooding has spread across multiple departments, including Sucre, Magdalena, La Guajira, Chocó and Antioquia, but Córdoba — a key agricultural and cattle-raising hub — has borne the brunt of the devastation.

“This is much more serious than even the most pessimistic scenarios we expected,” Carlos Carrillo, director of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), said. “We are facing a severe climate crisis that has overwhelmed traditional coping mechanisms.”

Displacement and extensive damage

Preliminary government assessments report at least 14 confirmed deaths linked to flooding and landslides, while thousands of families have been forced into temporary shelters as floodwaters inundate entire neighborhoods.

In Córdoba’s rural areas, officials estimate that around 157,000 hectares of agricultural land are submerged, affecting crops such as plantain, yucca and watermelon as well as commercial monocultures like African palm. Livestock losses are mounting, with local authorities reporting that more than 5,500 animals have been affected.

“We have 1,700 homes already destroyed and 4,000 more uninhabitable,” Carrillo said, though he cautioned that final figures are expected to change once waters recede and damage is fully assessed.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said more than 27,000 families have been impacted by flooding across the Caribbean departments, with thousands more indirectly affected as access roads and bridges have been reduced to rubble.

Public health officials warn that overcrowded shelters are becoming hotspots for disease, exacerbated by lack of access to clean water, sanitation and essential medical care.

“We are seeing extreme levels of waterborne and respiratory illnesses among displaced families,” said a health official in Montería, the capital of Córdoba. “The combination of stagnant water, cramped conditions and limited resources is a ticking time bomb.”

Essential supplies including food, mattresses and personal hygiene products are in critically short supply in many shelters, officials said.

Cold front and climate pressures

Meteorologists have attributed the extreme rainfall to an atypical cold front entering from the Caribbean, which has pushed precipitation far above normal levels. Rainfall in some areas has been measured at more than 64% above average for January and February.

“The water levels we are witnessing have never been recorded in February,” Carrillo said. Ideam has maintained high-level yellow and red alerts for at least 16 departments as flooding and landslide risks persist.

Typically dry early months of the year have instead seen consistent rains, and meteorologists warn that March and April could bring the usual seasonal rains, compounding the already dire situation.

Local officials across affected regions reported severe disruptions to vital road networks, bridges and public services, isolating some communities entirely. In the Urabá Antioqueño in western Antioquia, authorities said more than 9,000 families were left displaced in 13 municipalities that declared calamity.

Despite the scale of the disaster, the national government has not formally declared an economic emergency, a move that would unlock additional disaster funds and expedite aid. President Gustavo Petro, who convened a council of ministers in Montería, has signaled that such a declaration is under consideration.

“The magnitude of these floods demands a national response,” one government official said. “We are mobilizing resources but the scale of the crisis is beyond anything we normally plan for.”

The response has also brought renewed scrutiny to long-standing water management challenges in the region. Carrillo and other government officials have criticized decades-old hydraulic works, including reservoirs and levees, for altering natural water flows and potentially exacerbating flooding.

President Petro echoed these concerns on social media, singling out infrastructure such as the Urrá hydroelectric reservoir — built in the 1990s — as part of the region’s broader hydrological challenges.

“These reservoirs were not designed to manage excess water but to drain lands and disrupt natural flow patterns,” Petro wrote, arguing that such interventions may have contributed to current conditions.

Communities struggle amid uncertainty

In two coastal departments – La Guajira and Magdalena – continuous rainfall has caused streams to overflow and paralyzed mobility, while in the colonial port city of Santa Marta, strong winds and currents drove a cargo vessel ashore, highlighting the intensity of the storms.

For residents in isolated rural towns, the toll is deeply personal. Entire families have lost homes and livelihoods, and many are now waiting for relief that has been slow to reach remote areas.

“We’ve never seen water this high,” said a farmer in northern Córdoba. “We are afraid of what comes next — we don’t know how we will recover.”

With rains expected to continue over the coming weeks, authorities and humanitarian organizations warn that the full scale of the disaster may not be known for months, and that recovery will require sustained national and international support.