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By Open Chronicle Staff
BOGOTÁ – Colombian President Gustavo Petro revealed on Tuesday that he narrowly escaped a targeted assassination plot after intelligence warnings forced his helicopter to abort a landing and retreat over open waters for several hours.
Speaking during a live-broadcast cabinet meeting in Montería, a visibly shaken Petro detailed the harrowing events of Monday night. The President was traveling to the northern department of Córdoba to oversee emergency responses to devastating regional floods when his security detail received urgent intelligence.
“I have to confess here that I was running away from being killed,” Petro told his ministers. According to the President, the helicopter was preparing to touch down at a designated site on the Caribbean coast when officials warned that the aircraft was about to be fired upon. He noted that the landing site remained suspiciously dark, with the lights intentionally left off.
To evade the perceived threat, the presidential aircraft diverted its course, flying over the open sea for four hours before finally reaching a secure location.
President Gustavo Petro stated today (Feb 10, 2026) that he survived an assassination attempt on Feb 9 while in a helicopter, diverting to open sea to avoid being shot at. The claim links to threats from drug traffickers pic.twitter.com/MpgQiFIEwu
— ★★★ Pamphlets ★★★ (@PamphletsY) February 10, 2026
A Shadow Over the Campaign Trail
The incident comes at a volatile moment for Colombia, just three months before the May presidential elections. While Petro is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term, the political climate has reached a boiling point. The President linked the plot to a “new drug trafficking cartel” and dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla group, specifically naming Iván Mordisco, a high-ranking commander who rejected the 2016 peace deal.
Security experts note that tensions have spiked following Petro’s recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. During that summit, both leaders agreed to a joint manhunt for “Chiquito Malo,” the leader of the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s most powerful criminal organization. In retaliation, the group recently suspended peace talks with the government.
History of Threats
This is not the first time the country’s first left-wing leader has claimed to be in the crosshairs. In July 2024, Petro skipped a major military parade, citing similar security concerns, and later alleged that drug traffickers had attempted to acquire surface-to-air missiles to target him during the COP16 summit in Cali.
While military and police authorities have yet to release a formal assessment of Monday’s incident, the Presidency has significantly tightened security protocols. Critics of the administration have called for more transparent evidence regarding these plots, yet the specter of Colombia’s violent political history, marked by the assassinations of several presidential candidates in the late 20th century, continues to loom large over the current electoral cycle.
As the cabinet remains in Montería to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the floods, the nation is left grappling with a dual emergency: a climate disaster in the north and a deepening security crisis that threatens the stability of the upcoming vote.