A new report published by the Colombian magazine Semana this weekend revealed details of an ongoing power struggle between Ministers Armando Benedetti and Laura Sarabia, members of far-left President Gustavo Petro’s inner circle.
Benedetti and Sarabia are highly controversial government officials who have each occupied different positions in Petro’s administration since he took office in 2022 and are widely described as being among Petro’s most trusted individuals.
Semana stated in its report that the controversial pair are “trying to rip each other’s eyes out” in a fight for power that may “jeopardize” the stability of the Colombian government and which has moved from the personal to the legal plane. According to Semana, the current head of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE) Angie Rodríguez and Petro’s former lawyer and Associate Supreme Court Justice Mauricio Pava are also involved.
The internal conflict follows weeks of sensational news headlines in Colombia accusing Petro of being a drug addict and disappearing on drug-fueled misadventures during official international trips.
Presently, Benedetti serves as interior minister, while Sarabia serves as foreign minister. In recent years, the pair has been embroiled in numerous scandals either on their own or jointly, such as 2023’s “nannygate” illegal wiretapping scandal, which resulted in their brief departure from the government. In late April, Benedetti admitted that he suffers from drug and alcohol addiction.
Sarabia’s appointment as Colombia’s top diplomat and Benedetti’s short-lived designation as chief of staff was publicly criticized by other Colombian ministers during a disastrous February six-hour meeting broadcast live on national television. Petro restructured his cabinet after several ministers resigned in the aftermath of the meeting.
In late April, Sarabia presented evidence at the Public Prosecutor’s Office accusing Benedetti of gender-based violence, illicit enrichment, and aggression stemming from an original 2023 complaint. Shortly afterwards, lawyer Inés Elena Camargo filed a complaint before the Attorney General’s Office against Sarabia on grounds that she allegedly made improper use of Foreign Ministry facilities and resources in her complaint against Benedetti.
The magazine detailed that Sarabia, who is close to Colombian First Lady Verónica Alcocer, has “lost ground” in the government because she now works out of the San Carlos Palace, which serves as the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry. DAPRE chief Angie Rodríguez, whose office is located in the Casa de Nariño presidential palace, has reportedly become Petro’s “new right hand” and the person who “holds the keys to the private office of the head of state.”
According to Semana, Rodriguez was “anointed” by Benedetti and Health Minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo and became the pair’s “perfect formula” to displace Sarabia. She is now described in Casa de Nariño as “the most powerful woman in the palace” and “Sarabia’s replacement.”
Semana further stated that the “novela” of the power struggle between Benedetti and Sarabia has another protagonist, lawyer Mauricio Pava, who represented Petro in several criminal and disciplinary proceedings when he was Mayor of Bogotá and during 2024’s now-archived irregular campaign expenses probe.
Last week, Pava published an opinion piece in the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo titled “The Lord of the Rings’ and Serpent’s Tongue” in favor of Sarabia, with whom he has a close relationship.
In the piece, Pava, without naming anyone, claimed that, “today there are also those who whisper in the President’s ear,” referencing the character Grima Wormtongue from famed fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, whose surname is officially translated in Spanish as “Serpent’s Tongue.”
“In that scene, the kingdom of Rohan is on the verge of collapse. Their king has been manipulated by a sinister advisor [Wormtongue], who with smooth words has isolated him from reality, weakened his will and handed over control of the kingdom to dark interests,” Pava said. “Around him, many remain silent, some murmur without acting, and a few, unable to accept this drift, leave so as not to betray their principles.”
“That advisor does not act alone: he answers to a greater power, a wizard who gave up his original mission to serve dark forces. Together, they have tried to turn the king into a swayed figure, feeding his deepest fears and manipulating his innermost desires,” he continued. “Those who once spoke frankly, with the courage to point out his mistakes, have been displaced or discredited.”
Semana asked Pava if he was referring to Benedetti in his opinion piece. According to the magazine, the lawyer responded that he “will not go beyond what he said in his column.”
“It’s an opinion,” Pava told Semana. Upon the magazine’s insistence, he stressed, “I’m not going to particularize the column.”
Semana detailed that Pava, who has also represented Benedetti in the past, has also served as legal representative for people close to former President Álvaro Uribe Velez, former Finance Minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga, and members of the administration of former President Iván Duque. According to the magazine, he has gone “further” with Sarabia and adopted her fight against Benedetti as “his own,” with the lawyer asserting that, “in high-impact defenses, we lawyers end up in the ring.”
“In the Casa de Nariño they repeat that Pava’s interest with Sarabia, presumably, would go beyond an alleged sentimental relationship,” Semana claimed. “In the corridors of the presidential palace they refer to business, lobbying and negotiations, among other issues that would compromise Pava and Sarabia.”
Asked by Semana about the “growing” noise in the presidential Casa de Nariño on the alleged relationship between Pava and Sarabia, the lawyer responded, “I don’t find it respectful.”
Sources close to Benedetti claimed to Semana that Pava is the “architect” behind Sarabia’s attacks against the interior minister, “the most powerful official in the Casa de Nariño.” Sarabia refuted the assertion in remarks given to Semana.
“I find it disrespectful that they say a woman has to be influenced by a man to make a decision. The only man I can make a decision for is Alejandro Parra Sarabia, my son,” Sarabia told Semana.
Armando Benedetti and Laura Sarabia were mentioned by foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva in a public letter in April in which he accused Petro of suffering from drug addiction. According to Leyva, the pair has “kidnapped” Petro and urged the president to “disassociate [him]self from those who have abused [him], who have taken advantage of [his] very complex situation, and who have done and continue to do [him] terrible harm.”
The former foreign minister also claimed that Sarabia “satisfied some personal needs” of the Colombian president, without elaborating.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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