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Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he escaped a possible assassination attempt after security concerns prevented his helicopter from landing while travelling with his daughters.
Petro said on Tuesday that his aircraft was unable to land on Colombia’s Caribbean coast on Monday night because of information that unidentified individuals planned to shoot at it.
“Last night, I couldn’t land because I was informed that they were going to shoot at the helicopter I was travelling in with my daughters,” Petro said, according to public broadcaster Radio Nacional de Colombia.
“They didn’t even turn on the lights where I was supposed to land,” he added.
At a Council of Ministers meeting in Cordoba Department, where flooding and heavy rains have created a humanitarian emergency, Petro said he had to quickly change his travel plans due to the threatened situation.
“I’m trying to escape being killed. That’s why I couldn’t arrive on time last night, because I couldn’t land where I had said,” he 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 said the helicopter headed out to open sea for several hours before, with support from the Colombian navy, landing at a different location.
He said his security arrangements and travel routes were subsequently altered.
“The head of state affirmed that these events keep him in a state of permanent alert and linked them to other actions that, according to him, have been occurring since October of last year,” Radio Nacional de Colombia reported.
The president did not provide details about who may have been behind the alleged plot. He has previously claimed that drug-trafficking groups have targeted him since he took office in August 2022 and reported another alleged attempt on his life in 2024.
