Former Colombian official accuses country's leader of being a drug addict

Former Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva Duran on Wednesday shared a letter that accused the country's President Gustavo Petro of being a drug addict, who allegedly went missing for two days during a trip to Paris. 

Leyva, who worked for Petro for two years, said he was initially full of high hopes for his work under a left-wing leader, but the president's behavior left him feeling bewildered and uneasy. 

“It was in Paris that I was able to confirm that you had a drug addiction problem … Your recovery, sadly, has not taken place,” Leyva Duran wrote in the letter, which was shared on social media. "It is well known that you have very frequently experienced times of loneliness, anxiety, depression and other issues that are hard to overcome, some high-risk ones. It is all known for people extremely close to you love you, esteem you, and feel a personal bond but don't know what to do."

Leyva said that the president was allegedly frequently late for things, randomly disappeared, went on confusing trips, and rambled incoherently. He also allegedly had "questionable companions." 

The South American president appeared to respond to the allegations in a post on social media, criticizing his country's press for covering the letter and his former foreign minister for making the allegations. 

"It not only speaks poorly of the writer, but the press," Petro wrote in a post translated by The Latin Times. "Doesn't Paris have parks, museums, bookstores, more interesting than the writer, to spend two days? Almost everything in Paris is more interesting. Don't I have daughters and granddaughters in Paris, much more interesting than the writer?"

The letter comes the day after Petro claimed he couldn't visit the United States for a series of spring meetings because it had revoked his travel visa. The State Department has refused to confirm or deny Petro’s allegation.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.