Andrés Pastrana's harsh response to President Petro for pointing out 'Papa Smurf'

" I have had no ties to him nor have I met with him. He must answer to Congress, the Court and the country for his unworthy conduct ." This is how former President Andrés Pastrana responded to President Gustavo Petro, who accused him of alleged ties to Diego Marín, alias 'Papa Pitufo', the so-called 'smuggling tsar' who allegedly tried to bring funds into the campaign of the current head of state.

This weekend, from Chicoral, Tolima, in addition to insisting that no funds from Marín went into his presidential campaign, he suggested that Pastrana had helped the 'smuggling tsar' in his illicit business.

"He started helping the Colombian smuggler, or let Andrés Pastrana tell me if Mr. Diego Marín does not mention him as his assistant in the criminal proceedings that the Attorney General's Office has hidden," said the president.

The president also stressed that he has publicly asked Marín to tell the whole truth about his 38 years of crime when he comes to Colombia to render accounts, without keeping a single word to himself. "I have no personal rumors about this. I know who is afraid because I know what 'Pitufo' must confess for the good of the country."

Through his X account, Pastrana broke his silence and left a harsh response for President Petro. "You are up to your neck in illicit money. Starting with that of your contributor "Mr. Diego Marín" (Pitufo for the underworld), with whom I have had no connection and I do not meet with him. Respond to Congress, the Court and the country for your unworthy conduct," he said.

Regarding the alleged receipt of money from Marín to his campaign, President Petro confirmed that there was indeed an attempt, but that he himself demanded that it be denied. " I have proof of this. I personally ordered that whoever received the money return it immediately and it is visually proven. If someone sold out for greed, let them go to jail. I am not selling out, I would have done it a long time ago, " he said.

He even went so far as to say that his work as a leader has put the smuggler in check. "Diego Marín is today devastated by my work, for reporting his activity and his crime to the public (...). If I had not done so, if I had not given orders to national intelligence agencies to help with the investigation, if I had not spoken to President Pedro Sánchez of Spain asking for their help to prevent his escape and with the prime ministers of Portugal for the same purpose, Marín would continue smuggling in Colombia with the complicity of officials and the silence of most of the press."

Juan Pablo Penagos Ramirez