The president of Colombia has greater problems than drug addiction accusations

As for political accusations, it is difficult to find something more explosive than this.

Álvaro Leyva, who was the Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gustavo Petro, published last week a devastating letter in which he accused the Colombian president of abusing illegal drugs.

“It has been in Paris where I could confirm that you had a drug addiction problem,” said Leyva, referring to an episode that occurred in 2023, when Petro disappeared for two days from an official visit to France. “Your recovery, unfortunately, has not been given.”

President Petro rejected the accusations, and suggested that he had taken that time in Paris with his family, in visits to the city’s cultural interest. “We are addicted to love,” he ironized, then calling “snake” to Leyva.

While it is not the first time that accusations of this type arise, its weight is greater in the coming of an exassor who worked about two years as Petro’s main diplomat.

There are many anecdotes about Petro’s inappropriate behavior: once he made his delegation wait for more than seven hours at a military airport before leaving for Chile, and the president appeared to take the flight after two in the morning; Or when he raised on social networks against the president of the United States, Donald Trump, on the middle of Sunday night, one more case of publication of extensive comments at high hours of the morning.

More recently, Petro did not attend the funeral of Pope Francis, whom he admired so much that his brother called him, arguing medical orders that prevented him from traveling by plane (apparently, he was recovering from a recent aesthetic operation).

Yes, history has seen great leaders with eccentric habits, from Winston Churchill to Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, directs Tesla, launches rockets and works in the government despite having admitted to consuming ketamine.

But Petro’s real problem is not his private life: it is his poor performance as a ruler. His outdated ideas, their incoherent policies, corruption scandals and their erratic style have put Colombia on a dangerous path of political confrontation and financial instability.

An example: its chaotic live transmission of a cabinet meeting this year, a failed attempt of transparency, became a show of ministers discussing as collegiate against a president without control.

With a disapproval index close to 60%, without blunt achievements and without re -election option, Colombia’s first leftist president approaches the “sunset of power.”

The last stage of his mandate promises to be even more volatile and, potentially, dangerous.

His impulse for a referendum on populist issues, with questions such as “Does you agree that people working on Sundays or holidays charge double?” It is a cynical attempt to avoid Congress and reactivate its base. But governing without a majority demands negotiation skills that Petro has not proven to have.

The expansion of drug trafficking and guerrilla resurgence confirm the failure of their “total peace”, which has caused new tensions in relations with the USA.

And of the “government of change” he promised, there is not much left. That would require a well thought out strategy and precise execution. And its constant allusions to a re -election, although not possible, seem more a political trick than a real threat.

Economic, the situation darkens.

The fiscal deficit reached 6.7% of GDP in 2024, worse than expected; and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended the country’s access to a credit line of US $ 8.1 billion.

Although Colombia enjoys decent growth and lower inflation, budget imbalances raise public debt, which makes a reduction of credit rating more possible.

The low prices of oil and coal, along with new tariffs from the United States to coffee, place Colombia among the losers of the new commercial war. And the surprising decline of Rasas of the Bank of the Republic this week, just after the attacks of Petro to the issuing entity and the decision of the IMF, it is a risky play that adds uncertainty.

Many investors are betting on a change of course in the next elections in May 2026, where a right turn could occur, but that date is still far.

The fiscal risk of a government without incentives to cut expenses is real. “All the macro and financial panorama suggests that Colombia’s risk premium will remain high,” wrote Credicorp capital in a note.

Sometimes, it gives the impression that Petro looks forward to leaving the presidency, freeing himself from institutional forms and the “quid pro quo.” You may then retake your revolutionary dream that you could not fulfill. But the cost of passing through power could have been wasted the best opportunity to leave a historical mark in Colombia.

This note does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Bloomberg LP editorial board and its owners.

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