Who is Juan Fernando Petro and what are the last details of his visit to La Picota prison

Juan Fernando Petro was perhaps the first to learn about the fate that would bring his brother, Gustavo Petro, to M-19. Both shared the room in their family home since childhood, the candidate is now the oldest of his brothers, and led by the ideas of his mother decided to hang the flag of Anapo on one of the walls.

Although Juan Fernando was only reunited with his brother after Gustavo left his arms, he witnessed the full effect of that militancy on his family. Even in recent years too, because of threats, follow-ups and even intrusions into his home. However, he has been a squire of his brother, and he has tried, without success, to follow in his political footsteps.

Juan Fernando Petro appears on social media as a biologist and philosopher. According to the media Las2Orillas, he studied the first career at Universidad Nacional, where he would have submitted a thesis to refute Darwin's theory, but which was ultimately not accepted.

He also describes himself as a “social activist”, a work that has also been recognized by his brother Gustavo, through foundations for educational purposes that would operate based in his house in Cajicá. According to allegations made by Petro for an intrusion in 2020 to that foundation, it is very close to the maternal home of both.

According to the criminal complaint, this situation after which threatening pamphlets were found, as the newspaper El Tiempo was able to establish, happened at the headquarters of the FUDEL SIGLO XXI PROJECT foundation, which has Jackeline Marín Moreno and Carmen Moreno de Marín as registered partners.

But it would also have another foundation registered in January 2021, called GEA Transpersonal with a wealth of 600,000 pesos, according to the newspaper cited, which has as partners Jonathan Alexander Delgado Laverde and Leydi Yider Laverde Avila.

Both foundations share a similar heritage and the same headquarters, in Cajicá, where the brother of the presidential candidate lives.

According to Juan Fernando Petro to Semana magazine, for several years it has had a humanitarian foundation, which for three years has been working together with the Inter-Church Commission for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation, which has been linked with victims, perpetrators, ex-guerrillas and ex-paramilitaries to generate projects in the populations most affected by the conflict.

In 2019, he tried to enter politics with a candidacy for Human Colombia in the municipality where the Petro family lived, Cajicá, but won 601 votes that represented 1.81% of the vote and could not enter into that goal.

This year, she appeared on social media to support Gustavo Petro's candidacy. In a photograph together, with collectible daggers, he assured that he and the family would accompany his brother's new campaign. From there, he showed the different regional tours he has taken on behalf of the presidential candidate, toured the Caribbean, gave interviews to present the program and participated in a meeting of victims in Circasia, Chocó, as a campaign delegate.

Now, Juan Fernando Petro says he received an invitation to present Gustavo Petro's judicial, penitentiary and peace proposals from the convicts of the La Picota prison, which he decided to attend, but not on behalf of the campaign, but of its foundation. At that meeting, he was presented with a document aimed at strengthening human rights, according to Semana, which was signed by Iván Moreno.

For the social activist, the whole conversation moved around prison and human rights policy, because the condemned politicians thought it was a direct contact with the presidential candidate. Juan Fernando denies that this was the case because he was not representing his brother, however he said that he would give a copy of the document to Petro and that in the conversation the idea of “social forgiveness” was discussed.

Petro maintains that his admission to prison took place under the regular conduct of every person. However, Caracol News revealed that he was authorized to visit Franklin Germán Chaparro, former mayor of Villavicencio convicted of homicide, who inscribed him as a “friend” on the visitor list.

In addition, he was accompanied by Juan Danilo Rueda, national coordinator of the NGO Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, who was invited by former governor of San Andrés Ronald Housin Jaller, convicted of corruption. The news program added that in the admission notes to the prison it was registered as a “Truth Commission”, although it has no link with that entity.

The news revealed anonymous testimonies of three inmates who were at the meeting, who said that during the group meeting, a 20% reduction of sentences was offered through a reform of justice and the elimination of judges from the execution of sentences. Although Juan Fernando Petro denies that offer.

The anonymous and Juan Fernando testimonies agree that Iván Moreno cried during the meeting about the consequences he had as a result of the conviction (because of the recruitment carousel in Bogotá) and that they spoke privately for about 15 minutes. He also did it with Álvaro “el gordo” García, former senator convicted of the Macayepo massacre.

Also present at the meeting were Javier Zapata, former governor of Guainía, accused by concert to commit a crime; Whitman Porras, former governor of Casanare, sentenced to 18 years for corruption; Manuel Antonio Carebilla, former governor of the Amazon, convicted of embezzlement and improper bribery.

Gustavo Petro, through his Twitter account, assured that he did not authorize or have any connection with his brother's visit to prison. He assured that the idea of “social forgiveness” had been contemplated, but that it did not imply a reduction of sentences or pardons, nor was it a negotiation of votes with the corrupt and parapolitical condemned.

The candidate even announced legal action against those who promoted that version and even attacked the news program that revealed testimonies that support this possibility, calling him “media enemies”.

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