Authorities from Colombia and the United States are investigating an alleged plot to assassinate President Gustavo Petro, according to US television network Univision.
Petro confirmed to Univision that he had been warned about the alleged plot by the US Embassy in Bogota.
According to an American defense attorney who had warned the embassy, the information came from one of his clients.
This drug trafficker who is currently on the run in Europe allegedly got wind of the plot that was hatched by guerrilla group EMC, a drug trafficker, a former police general and people in Dubai, the capital of United Arab Emirates.
The Dubai conspirators allegedly sent money to Colombia to buy the arms and munitions needed to assassinate Petro, lawyer Alexei Schacht told Univision.
The identities of those allegedly involved in the assassination plot are known to authorities in both the US and Colombia, according to the television network.
The assassination was supposed to have taken place during the military parade that is organized annually in Bogota to commemorate Colombia’s independence on July 20.
Petro said that the American ambassador warning him about the plot at a meeting that took place a few days before Independence Day.
“The gringo ambassador called me aside and showed me a paper with maps where snipers were located on the 19th [street] to kill me during the military parade,” Petro told Univision.
The alleged plot failed because “coincidentally I had asked to change the route to working class neighborhoods,” the president said.
Following the publication of the article, Petro asked EMC commander “Ivan Mordisco” on Twitter “if it is certain that he aligned himself with the so-called “New Drug Trafficking Council” with a clandestine office in Dubai.”