Colombian President Gustavo Petro said security warnings of a planned shooting forced his helicopter to abort two landings in Córdoba, which he described as an assassination attempt linked to drug traffickers.
The alleged plot comes amid tensions with the Gulf Clan cartel and strained US-Colombia relations following talks with President Donald Trump.
The incident follows the brief abduction of Senator Aída Quilcué in Cauca, underscoring ongoing security challenges ahead of March congressional and May presidential elections.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that he had survived an alleged assassination attempt after security concerns forced his helicopter to abort two planned landings in the northern department of Córdoba.
Speaking during a live-streamed cabinet meeting, Petro said intelligence warnings indicated that unidentified individuals were preparing to shoot at the aircraft.
“I’m trying to escape being killed,” Petro said. “That’s why I couldn’t arrive on time last night, because I couldn’t land where I had said. This morning, I couldn’t land where I was supposed to either, because there was information that the helicopter was going to be shot at.”
Petro, who took office in August 2022 and is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term, claimed that a drug-trafficking organization has been targeting him since he became president. He previously reported another alleged plot against his life in 2024.
According to local media, the Gulf Clan — Colombia’s largest drug cartel — operates in Córdoba. The group recently suspended peace talks with the government after Petro agreed with US President Donald Trump to cooperate in efforts to capture alleged cartel leader Hobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego.
Petro met Trump at the White House earlier this month amid growing tensions between the two countries. Trump has criticized Colombia’s anti-drug efforts as insufficient and previously referred to Petro as an “illegal narco-leader,” an accusation the Colombian president strongly rejected. Petro has in turn criticized US operations in the Caribbean and Venezuela, saying they undermine regional stability.
The reported attempt comes ahead of Colombia’s congressional elections on March 8 and presidential elections in May.
Petro’s remarks followed the temporary abduction of Colombian Senator Aída Quilcué in the conflict-affected department of Cauca, a key coca-growing region contested by dissident factions of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla group.
Quilcué, a 53-year-old Indigenous activist, was rescued hours after the vehicle she was traveling in with two bodyguards was found abandoned, her team said on X. She told AFP that she had been taken by “various armed men” but did not identify the group responsible.
