President Gustavo Petro published an extensive clarification on social networks after a judge ordered him to correct his statements against Public Prosecutor Mario Andres Burgos Patiño, whom he accused of alleged links with drug traffickers within the operation known as “La Perla.”
Although the President complied with the court order, his letter sparked new debates, as he insisted on questioning the use of the principle of opportunity in Colombian criminal justice, and warned of what he saw as a practice that “ended up weakening citizens’ confidence in justice.”
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The confrontation between Petro and Prosecutor Burgos goes back to comments made by the president on social networks, In it, he indicated that the official preferred people linked to drug trafficking and extortion networkssupposedly by granting the principle of opportunity to a person involved in the process.
Faced with what he considered a false accusation that harmed his honor, Public Prosecutor Burgos went to the judges, who ordered the head of state to publicly correct his statements. This Wednesday, Pietro responded with a post that although he begins by clarifying that “there is no official archiving law dictated by the Burgos Public Prosecutor,” he maintains a critical tone towards the judicial system and its way of applying said procedural form.
In your message, Petro stressed that his intention “was not to attack the Attorney General personally or institutionally,” but rather “to warn against a disturbing practice within the state.”. According to the president, the principle of opportunity, a tool that allows the suspension of criminal proceedings in exchange for cooperation with justice, has been “distorted over the years” until it has become, in many cases, “an unequal negotiation in which the state always loses.”
“The principle of opportunity was born so that the state could suspend criminal prosecution in exchange for something greater: truth, effective cooperation, crime prevention. But this instrument has been distorted…more impunity, less truth, less justice,” the head of state said.
The president stressed that the real problem does not lie in a specific official, but in an institutional practice that, according to him, “has ceased to serve the criminal policy of the state” and has allowed “the main perpetrators to obtain immunity while the victims remain without knowing the truth or compensation.”
Pietro devoted a large part of his treatise to developing a structuralist critique of the principle of opportunity, which he described as a “misused” tool.. In his opinion, this figure should be “more demanding” and guarantee benefits only when there is truth, reparations and prevention of crime.
“The doctrine of opportunity must be reconsidered because instead of strengthening the state, it leaves it at the weakest place at the table: a place that grants without regaining moral authority,” the president wrote.
Petro compared this situation to the ideals of his “comprehensive peace” policy.Pointing out that while “judicial discourse negotiates its punitive power without restoring anything,” peace seeks “to restore everything: truth, the rights of victims, and collective hope.”
The president defended his position, stressing that his interest was to preserve the moral legitimacy of the state and the judicial system.. He claimed to believe in “living justice with purpose and public morality,” and stressed that he invested his political capital in promoting it.
“The state cannot continue to negotiate its power with the powerful in crime while persecuting the weak in the system,” Petro said.
At the end of his post, the President repeated his official clarification to Prosecutor Burgos, clarifying this He added: “There was no official file on his part in Operation Black Pearl,” but he insisted that there was a “worrying fact that deserves to be discussed carefully.”Exploiting the principle of opportunity and its results for the nation.
Petro concluded his message with a phrase with a strong political and symbolic charge: “While some continue to give opportunities to crime, we will continue to give opportunities to the nation. Comprehensive peace is not leniency: it is the moral reconstruction of the state.”
With this statement, the Head of State complied with the judicial order for correction, but at the same time affirmed his critical stance towards the judicial system and its application of the principle of opportunity, leaving open the national debate about the limits, scope and transparency of this legal tool in the country’s criminal processes.
After the president’s publication, Attorney General Mario Burgos’ defense, lawyer Sebastian Rondón, interpreted the letter as an official retraction and celebrated compliance with the court order. Through a message on their X account, the Attorney General’s lawyers wrote:
“We have received a new retraction from the President! After asking to defend Dr. Burgos, he had to correct the statements against his honor. Important: In the La Perla case, Dr. Burgos achieved the conviction of five people. The judiciary upheld the principle of opportunity.”
In doing so, the Prosecutor’s defense reiterated that Burgos acted within legal parameters and that the use of the opportunity doctrine in that process received corresponding judicial support.
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