Former Colombian President Petro Accused of Exploiting 48 Women for Presidential Parties, Petro Denies It

Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been accused of trapping and exploiting 48 women for presidential parties, with officials alleging they were hired 'just to be with President Petro'.

Carlos Andres Rios, director of Colombia's Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE), claimed Petro oversaw a system that used service contracts to 'systematically' control and weaponize the women, channeling public salaries in exchange for intimate relationships.

During a congressional hearing last week, Rios said: 'We are going to prove to the Colombian people how the Casa de Narino was unfortunately set up, organized, and tailored for something completely different — not to govern, but to party there every single day, bring in women.' The Casa de Narino is the presidential palace in Bogota.

Petro issued a statement on Sunday denying that he had used his public office to obtain sex. In a post on X he said: 'I have never given out a contract in exchange for sexual relations. I would vomit on myself if I ever did such a thing.'

Petro argued that while his office provided state-funded aid programs for vulnerable women, that is fundamentally different from giving contracts to individuals in exchange for sexual favors. He said helping poor women, female heads of households and those engaged in sex work so they have different life options — as he said he demonstrated through concrete and funded programs — is very different from giving out contracts in exchange for sexual relations, and that no person who participated in those public programs will ever be able to say he did anything of the sort.

In the statement Petro also acknowledged that when he was very young he occasionally visited establishments where sex work took place, saying he regretted the experiences and had stopped visiting such places decades ago. He said paying for sex felt dirty to him there and he perceived the sadness of the men and women who attended those places.

The accusations come amid broader criticism of Petro over alleged misuse of public funds, depletion of national budgets and drug trafficking. Petro has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated attacks by figures including President Donald Trump and Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella.

Petro said: 'After attempting to portray me as corrupt and a drug trafficker — an intention expressed by people like Abelardo de la Espriella and Donald Trump, without being able to present a single piece of evidence of corruption or drug trafficking, because I have never stolen a single peso from the public treasury and I have fought for over two decades against drug traffickers, exposing their political ties.'