Published 06/30/2025 15:10 | Edited 30/06/2025 15:46
A series of explosive audios revealed by the newspaper The country On Sunday (29) he exposed a serious attempt to coup d’état in Colombia: former Chancellor Álvaro Leyva tried to mobilize international political support-especially from the Donald Trump government wing in the US-to remove President Gustavo Petro from power and replace him with his deputy, Francia Márquez.
Leyva, who was Foreign Minister until 2024 and one of Petro’s closest allies at the beginning of the government, said in recordings that the Colombian President was a “erratic man” and “drug addict” – an accusation already made publicly and repeatedly denied by Petro. The former chancellor traveled to the US in search of the support of then-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, trying to mediate him with Republican congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, both from Florida.
According to The countrythe White House ignored Leyva’s proposal, which even suggested the use of “armed and non -armed means to dismiss the Colombian President. “We have to take this guy out there. He can’t preside over the 2026 elections,” says Leyva in one of the audios. Currently, he is in Madrid, Spain, and did not respond to requests for clarification from the press.
Petro reacts and charges public and judicial explanations
In a strong response, President Gustavo Petro classified the attempt as a “scoundrel conspiracy”, motivated by revenge. From Seville, where he participates in the UN conference on development financing, Petro stated that all people mentioned in the audios must respond in court.
He also suggested that Leyva would have acted in collusion with drug traffickers and the far right to try to overthrow him. The alleged articulation would include contacts with FARC dissidents and guerrilla Iván Márquez, whom Leyva was once a counselor during the Santos government’s peace process.
Vice President Francia Márquez has a shudder with Petro
One of the most sensitive aspects of the scandal is the relationship between Leyva and Vice President Francia Márquez, indicated as a key piece in the articulation of a forced transition. According to the audios, Leyva said that Márquez would replace Petro in the name of a “great national agreement.”
Márquez denied any involvement. “I have a quiet conscience, clear mind and firm heart,” he said on Sunday, reaffirming his respect for the constitutional order and the presidency of the Republic. However, Petro continues to be suspicious of the deputy, with whom he has a shudded public relationship since February, when divergences came to light in a ministerial meeting.
Scandal unites political spectrum in defense of democracy
Despite the climate of intense polarization in the country, the scandal united politicians of different ideological shades in condemnation of the attempted coup. Historical names like Álvaro Uribe (right) and Humberto de La Calle (center-left) repudiated the conspiracy.
“Criticism is one thing, conspiracy is different. Petro’s mandate is untouchable,” said de la Calle. Vicky Dávila, presidential candidate mentioned by Leyva as a possible ally, rejected involvement: “I have nothing to do with these ideas. I always said that, in public and private.”
Former President Uribe also defended pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, quoted in the audios and currently hospitalized after an attack: “Miguel is a complete democrat, not a coup.”
Impeachment is unlikely; institutionality prevails
Experts in Constitutional Law in Colombia point out that even if there was an internal political support, there is no timely legal basis for the overthrow of Petro by legal means. The country has a highly protective system to the presidential figure, with an impeachment process that can drag itself for years – as happened with Ernesto Samper in the 1990s.
The revelation of Alvaro Leyva’s secret conversations generated a wave of indignation and reinforcement of the democratic commitment, showing that despite the tensions, the institutions and the Colombian constitutional pact still resist the scammer temptations – now, ironically, from within the very nucleus that once occupied the Ministry of Colombian Foreign Affairs.
Source: vermelho.org.br
