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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, August 4th 2026 - 10:47 UTC

Tag: Gustavo Petro

  • Tuesday, July 28th 2026 - 20:00 UTC

    Colombia: official accuses Petro of mistreatment and the president announces legal action against her

    Rodríguez, once one of the president's closest officials, said he began to distrust her during her tenure at DAPRE and pressured her to resign

    The manager of Colombia's Adaptation Fund and former director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE), Angie Rodríguez, publicly accused President Gustavo Petro of subjecting her to mistreatment during her time in government, in remarks to a local radio station. The president responded that the claims are “slanderous” and announced he will pursue criminal action. The exchange comes ten days before the handover of power to president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella.

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  • Monday, July 20th 2026 - 20:12 UTC

    Petro calls for 'general and indefinite strike' if successor repeals his reforms

    Petro warned that a repeal of the labor reform, approved in June last year, would in his view represent a setback for workers' rights

    Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, called on Monday for a “general and indefinite strike” should the government of his successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, repeal his administration's labor reform or reverse the land reform. De la Espriella, elected in the June 21 runoff, will take office on August 7.

  • Wednesday, July 15th 2026 - 22:16 UTC

    Petro confirms he will skip De la Espriella's inauguration, repeating fraud claim

    “I cannot accept a president, and that is why I will not be anywhere on August 7, nor shake his hand; let him say so, but he knows why, because it is a fraud,” Petro said

    Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has confirmed he will not attend the August 7 inauguration of his successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, whose victory he continues to reject. The decision breaks with the tradition under which the departing head of state accompanies the president-elect during the oath before Congress.

  • Tuesday, July 14th 2026 - 07:33 UTC

    Colombia: Petro bars military sites for inauguration; De la Espriella says he will go ahead

    The president-elect, who adopted a military salute and the slogan “Firm for the homeland” during his campaign, has expressed his intention to hold the ceremony in Popayán

    Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has ordered that no military facility be used for the inauguration of his successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, scheduled for August 7. The president-elect responded that he will maintain his intention to be sworn in at a garrison in the south of the country, deepening the standoff between the two men less than a month before the handover.

  • Tuesday, July 7th 2026 - 23:00 UTC

    Colombia's president-elect suspends transition, accuses Petro of attempting a coup

    De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who won the June 21 runoff, ordered his vice president-elect, José Manuel Restrepo, to suspend transition meetings “immediately” on Tuesday

    Colombia's president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, froze the transition process with the outgoing government of Gustavo Petro on Tuesday and accused the president of attempting a coup, in a sharp escalation exactly one month before the handover of power, set for August 7.

  • Monday, July 6th 2026 - 20:14 UTC

    Petro rejects Colombia election result, backs legal bid to annul De la Espriella win

    Petro claimed that algorithms were run from a server with an IP address in Los Angeles to alter the count in De la Espriella's favor

    Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, reiterated on Sunday that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella, insisting that the June 21 presidential runoff was marked by fraud — an accusation he has not backed with public evidence and which is contradicted by international observers and the official vote count itself.

  • Saturday, July 4th 2026 - 07:26 UTC

    Petro says he asked Trump to lift his OFAC sanctions in a phone call

    Petro, his wife, his eldest son and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti were placed on that list in October 2025

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he held a phone conversation on Friday with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in which he asked for support in removing the sanctions on him and his family under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list, known as the Clinton List. According to the Colombian leader and a statement from the Presidency, Trump replied that he “will do his best” to review the case. The White House did not officially confirm the call.

  • Monday, June 22nd 2026 - 13:24 UTC

    De la Espriella gives a victory speech vowing unity as Cepeda awaits the final tally

    ”The electoral campaign is over, the divisions are over (...) and the supreme hour of service to the homeland begins,” De la Espriella said

    Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella delivered a victory speech on Sunday in Barranquilla, in which he proclaimed himself the winner of Colombia's presidential runoff according to the preliminary count and called for national unity, while the official tally remained under way and his rival, left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, conditioned recognition of the result on the definitive count.

  • Friday, June 12th 2026 - 21:19 UTC

    Colombia's far right eyes landslide amid fears Petro will reject runoff result

    In the first round on May 31, De la Espriella won about 10.3 million votes (43.74%) and Cepeda roughly 9.7 million (40.9%), a margin of under three points that sent both men to the runoff

    The campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, of the far-right Defenders of the Homeland movement, is aiming for a decisive win in the June 21 runoff to shield the outcome from possible challenges, his campaign chief said.

  • Tuesday, June 9th 2026 - 07:44 UTC

    Colombia's runoff: a united right behind De la Espriella faces a divided left

    The left, which had made unity the axis of its campaign in 2025, went through the week with internal tensions

    The first of the three campaign weeks ahead of Colombia's presidential runoff, set for June 21, has been marked by a contrast: a right that had failed to unite for the first round ended up aligned behind far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, while the left of Senator Iván Cepeda and President Gustavo Petro has struggled to coordinate its effort. De la Espriella was the most-voted candidate on May 31, with 43.74% against Cepeda's 40.90%.

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