Colombia’s President Petro Says He Foiled Assassination Plot After Rerouting Helicopter

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has revealed that he narrowly escaped an alleged assassination attempt after intelligence warnings forced him to divert a helicopter flight while traveling to the northern department of Córdoba.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting in Montería on Tuesday, Petro said the threat emerged on Monday night as he was en route to the city to respond to a severe flooding emergency. According to the president, security reports indicated that his helicopter was at risk of being shot down at its planned landing site, where the runway lights had suspiciously not been switched on, prompting an urgent mid-air change of course.

“I have to confess here that I was running away from being killed,” Petro said in a live broadcast, adding that concerns for his own safety and that of his children aboard the aircraft led him to alter the route.

“We headed out to open sea for four hours and arrived somewhere we weren’t supposed to go, escaping from being killed,” he said.

The alleged plot comes amid rising violence in Colombia as the country heads into an election period just three months before the presidential vote.

Petro blamed the threat on what he described as a “new drug trafficking cartel” that has targeted him since his inauguration in August 2022. However, tensions in Córdoba have recently intensified with the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s most powerful criminal organisation.

Relations deteriorated last week after Petro’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which both leaders agreed to a joint operation to track down the Gulf Clan’s top leader, Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, also known as “Chiquito Malo.”

In response, the group reportedly suspended peace talks previously held in Qatar, accusing the government of acting in bad faith.

This is not the first time Petro has spoken of such threats. In July 2024, he cited a similar alleged plot that prevented him from attending Colombia’s traditional July 20 military parade.

While military and police authorities have yet to officially confirm the details of Monday’s incident, the presidency has tightened security measures for the cabinet’s stay in Montería as officials consider declaring an economic emergency in the region.

Northern Colombia is currently facing a severe climate crisis driven by unusually heavy rainfall, triggering widespread flooding and landslides. At least 22 people have been killed, while more than 120,000 people have been displaced or affected across the departments of Córdoba, La Guajira, Sucre, Magdalena, Chocó and Antioquia.