Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro will file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office against Angie Rodriguez, who headed the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre) during his administration and was one of his closest aides for a time.
The decision, confirmed Wednesday by his lawyer, Alejandro Carranza, marks a new escalation in the feud between the two after the former official made public a series of allegations involving alleged irregularities at the presidential palace, known as Casa de Nariño, and the former president’s private life.
The controversy also involves Laura Sarabia, another former Dapre director and former foreign minister who was one of Petro’s most trusted allies during his presidency, and Veronica Alcocer, his former partner, who have both been mentioned in recent allegations.
Rodriguez has questioned the influence the two women allegedly wielded within the presidential circle and claimed that private information about the then-president existed that could have been used to pressure him.
Her latest statements have heightened tensions by referring to alleged private parties at the presidential palace involving “transvestite children” and claims that Petro used drugs. The allegations have not been publicly substantiated.
Petro to sue former official Angie Rodriguez over allegations
Lawyer Alejandro Carranza confirmed that he filed the complaint with the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday morning. The legal action cites possible offenses including embezzlement of public funds, conspiracy to commit crimes, aggravated libel and slander, as well as an alleged violation of personal data protections.
The decision follows Rodriguez’s allegations of irregularities during Petro’s administration and accusations against former members of his inner circle. The former official has been making such statements repeatedly for months. The former president had already announced on October 12 that he would take legal action after his former aide’s allegations gained public attention.
In a message posted on his X account, Petro denied that any crime had occurred between him and Sarabia and urged the former foreign minister to go to court to clarify the facts. He also said he would pursue legal action, a move now taking shape.
Sarabia, for her part, denied blackmailing the former president and called on anyone with evidence of possible crimes to submit it to the authorities rather than limit themselves to making public accusations.
Rodriguez has been making serious allegations against the former president for months. Among her latest claims is that Petro allegedly conspired with former paramilitary commanders to secure testimony against his political opponents, including former President Alvaro Uribe, former Vice President German Vargas Lleras, and then-presidential candidate and current President Abelardo de la Espriella.
In August, a leaked audio recording revealed statements implicating Petro’s former first lady and now ex-wife, Veronica Alcocer, in an alleged drug-trafficking operation involving the presidential plane from Venezuela. The claims were subsequently echoed by Eva Ferrer, a former associate of Alcocer, although she has provided no supporting evidence to date.
The alleged private material Laura Sarabia is said to have
One of Rodriguez’s latest allegations directly targets Sarabia. The former Dapre director claims that Sarabia, who previously served as foreign minister, pressured Petro to secure her appointment as Colombia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and possesses private photographs and videos of the then-president.
Rodriguez said she learned of the material during an exchange of cellphones and claimed the files could have been used to exert pressure on the president. She also questioned the power Sarabia allegedly accumulated within the administration, claiming she acted as an intermediary between Petro and his ministers and influenced high-level decisions.
The former official also extended her allegations to Veronica Alcocer, whom she accused of allegedly participating in appointments and public procurement matters. She further claimed that both women had helped push then-Interior Minister Armando Benedetti out of the presidential circle because they considered him a threat.
Rodriguez has also cited alleged irregularities involving government interventions in health insurance providers, known as EPS. According to her account, some instructions concerning the actions of the National Health Superintendency and the appointed administrators overseeing the companies came directly from Casa de Nariño.
Sarabia spoke out this morning, denying that she possesses any documents she could have used against the former president. “Let me be absolutely clear: this is false. I have never had, never seen, and never used any material of that kind,” the former foreign minister said this morning.
Allegations of private parties and tusi use
Rodriguez made her most serious allegations during an interview with journalist Daniel Samper Ospina. During the conversation, the former official insinuated that “transvestite children” had been present at private parties linked to the presidency, using the phrase when referring to images she claimed to have seen during the cellphone exchange.
Rodriguez said Sarabia had kept the material but did not publicly release the images or provide evidence that would allow her serious claims to be verified.
In the same interview, she accused Petro of using tusi, a recreational drug mixture known for its pink color, before some cabinet meetings. According to her account, the former president would lock himself in a bathroom at Casa de Nariño, forcing her to repeatedly urge him to come out and fulfill his official duties.
Rodriguez went so far as to challenge Petro to undergo a laboratory test to verify her allegation. However, she provided no public evidence substantiating the alleged drug use or establishing the identities or ages of the people she referred to when discussing the parties.
Before this latest and particularly disturbing allegation, Petro had responded to the repeated accusations made by his former official. “Not a single piece of evidence supporting the barrage of defamatory allegations made by two former employees of my administration has been submitted to the Attorney General’s Office,” he wrote on X, describing the claims as “slander aimed at destroying [me] in the press” and pointing out that there was “zero evidence” to support their assertions.
The former president said he would initiate “criminal proceedings so they can produce evidence to support their claims and let the justice system decide.”
Ni una sola prueba de toda la jauría de infamias desplegadas por dos ex empleadas en mi gobierno ha sido presentadas a la fiscalía.
Infamias para destruir en la prensa y cero pruebas de lo que afirman. Debo llevarlas a procesos penales para que señalen las pruebas de sus afirmaciones y sea la justicia la que defina.
Jamás pedí a ningún paramilitar que acuse a una persona en particular. Las acusaciones en medio del control político como congresista las hice yo mismo sobre pruebas judiciales reales.
Que Abelardo fue asesor del paramilitarismo esta dicho y fotografiado en mis debates. No tengo que pedir a nadie que lo diga. En confesiones diversas de paramilitares se ha dicho desde hace lustros.
Lo hecho en Ralito fue ley de la república y quien hablo se llevar el proceso a que se dijera que se llevará a supeditar beneficios jurídicos por decir toda la verdad fue la Corte Constitucional. Mi gobierno solo hizo la.advertencia se cerrar el proceso con la verdad/la. justicia restaurativa y las garantías de no repetición. https://t.co/AVzLiUP0CA
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 21, 2026