Laura Sarabia
Director of Dapre
Who is it?
He is President Petro’s right hand man. At only 30 years old, she has held three senior positions during the current government. In February she returned to the Casa de Nariño, again as director of Dapre, and with more functions in charge of her, replacing former director González.
After the 2022 presidential campaign, she was appointed Petro’s chief of staff. While she was in that position, the polygraph scandal involving her former nanny, Marelbys Meza, broke out. She then had a clash with her former boss, Benedetti, in which he suggested that she knew about irregular money coming into the campaign.
And now Sarabia has been accused of benefiting her brother, Andrés Sarabia, and one of her advisors, Jaime Ramírez Cobo, from her position as President Petro’s right-hand man.
How has he moved in the fight?
Sarabia spoke about the conflict until Sunday, June 23. “I know that I am an obstacle that they need to remove,” the senior official trilled after complaints on social networks about an alleged network of corruption led by her brother, Andrés Sarabia, and one of his main advisors, lawyer Jaime Ramirez.
According to the complaints, taken up by El Colombiano, Sarabia’s brother and his advisor Ramírez were directing contracts with public officials and congressmen in different state entities, including Fiduprevisora. This entity is the one that manages the millionaire Fomag fund, the fund with which the social benefits of public teachers are paid, and which historically has had noises of corruption.
The noise of these complaints grew because Diana Valencia – the girlfriend of Ramírez, Sarabia’s advisor – was, until recently, vice president of contracting derived from Fiduprevisora. Ramírez and Valencia filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office and described the versions against them as “black propaganda.”
“I am responsible for my actions and do not doubt that I will respond to questions sponsored, behind the scenes, by those who defend dark and corrupt interests,” the senior official trilled regarding the complaints that affect her closest environment.
What is your power in the government?
Sarabia is one of the superpowers of the Petro government. As director of Dapre, she manages the president’s public and private agenda, that is, Petro’s day and night. She is also in charge, together with the Military House, of ensuring the security of the president and organizing the logistics of all his trips.
Sarabia is also one of the main doors in the government for business unions and cocoas along with another of his allies in Casa de Nariño, the business advisor, Juan Fernández.
The senior official has been assigned other functions that do not sit well within the cabinet. As La Silla told it, in February Sarabia asked the ministers for his formal resignation so that the president could decide his continuity within the government. Ministers such as Ricardo Bonilla, from the Treasury, protested against the Sarabia proposal.
