Tensions between Colombia’s news media and President Gustavo Petro escalated after he accused press freedom foundation FLIP of having ties to the far-right.

Petro’s accusation was met with online clashes between journalists and Petro supporters, many of whom decried the lack of accountability for news media in alleged slander cases.

The initial role of Cambio

The clashes between the president and the press were triggered by a controversial column of senior journalist Maria Jimena Duzan that was published in liberal news magazine Cambio.

In her column, Duzan suggested that one of Petro’s closest allies, presidential administration chief Laura Sarabia, was peddling her influence with the president through a lobby firm she created with her brother.

The article provided no evidence of influence peddling and was entirely based on anonymous sources.

In November, Duzan accused Petro of being a drug addict, which was denied by the president and people who had worked with him.

This accusation came amid a barrage of corruption allegations against the government that have yet to be supported by evidence.

President locks horns with FLIP

In response to the Sarabia article, Petro accused Duzan and far-right magazine Semana of “Mossad journalism.”

They want to destroy Sarabia just to destroy the government and commit villainies and dirty tricks.

President Gustavo Petro

This accusation triggered a response by FLIP, which accused the president of “delegitimizing and stigmatizing the work of journalists and media that monitor his government.”

In a statement, the press freedom foundation said Petro “ignores his obligation as head of state to promote an optimal climate for the exercise of journalistic work.”

“And when will the FLIP of [far-right politician Francisco] Santos defend the citizenry against slander dressed up as information?” the president subsequently asked on social media platform X.

In another statement, the press freedom foundation specified that Santos was one of 14 journalists who founded FLIP in 1996 and left the organization “more than 20 years ago.”

Dozens of journalists rejected Petro’s attack on social media while countless supporters of the president echoed Petro’s criticism about the lack of accountability of allegedly unethical news outlets.