11.02.2026 01:30
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt against himself and his family, revealing that he spent the last 48 hours evading being killed. He stated that he changed his route for the safety of his children upon receiving intelligence about an attack on his helicopter on the Caribbean coast, and instead of landing in a risky area where the lights were turned off, they reached a safe zone after a four-hour sea journey.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt against him and his family. Expected to attend a program on the Caribbean coast, Petro admitted that he has been on a "escape journey" for two days due to a threat that surpassed security protocols.
"I HAVE BEEN AVOIDING BEING KILLED FOR TWO DAYS"
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Petro expressed the terrifying process he experienced in the simplest terms, stating, "I must confess that... I have been traveling to avoid being killed for two days."
Petro noted that they received intelligence that assassins would attack their helicopter, and therefore they had to change their route at the last moment.
THERE WERE CHILDREN ON THE HELICOPTER
The most horrifying aspect of the assassination attempt was that Petro's children were also in the same vehicle. Indicating that the lights were off at the landing point of the helicopter and an ambush was set, Petro conveyed the terror he experienced with the following words:
"In the morning, fearing the helicopter would be shot down and that my children were inside, I did not land where I was supposed to. A safe landing was not possible because the lights were off."
FOUR-HOUR SEA ESCAPE
Stating that they preferred the sea route due to the lack of safety in the air route, the Colombian leader expressed that they set sail into the sea without a route: "We sailed into the sea for four hours and arrived at a place I should not have been—but I made it. The important thing was to reach there by staying alive."
CARTEL SUSPICION
Colombian security forces are focusing on the possibility that powerful cartels, disturbed by the government's drug policy, may be behind the attack attempt.