While Milei and Bukele step up the fight against crime, Petro insists on benefits for prisoners and relatizes cocaine.
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The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, was once again at the center of the controversy after once again defending the legalization of cocaine and announcing that he will bring the Internet to all the country's prisons. “Whiskey kills more than cocaine. But they make whiskey, cocaine is made here,” he said
.
Petro questioned international anti-drug policy and stated that the illegality of cocaine was imposed from outside. “They imposed it on us. Someone determined that this substance was illegal outside of Colombia,” said the Colombian president, in a new example of his line of discourse against the war on
drugs.
In the
same message, Petro stated that he asked to move forward with the installation of fiber optics in prisons. “I have asked for optical fiber to reach the prison,” he said, defending connectivity for prisoners on the grounds that it could be used for education, work and resocialization processes. Then he finished off with another controversial phrase: “What world of justice are we in? ”.
The proposal generated strong criticism, especially since Colombia continues to be beset by drug trafficking, insecurity and the presence of criminal structures that operate even from prisons. For its detractors, bringing the Internet to prisons can open a dangerous door in a country where criminal organizations have already demonstrated great capacity to coordinate their crimes.
Petro's position contrasts with the security model promoted by other leaders in the region, such as Javier Milei in Argentina and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, who take a much harder line against organized crime, prisoners and drug gangs.
On multiple occasions, videos and images of the president under the supposed effect of substances transcended.
In September 2025, during an event in Manaus, Petro had already defended the legalization of cocaine as a supposed way to stop the destruction of the Amazon. On that occasion, he stated that, if cocaine were legalized, part of the threats that mafias pose to the region would be eliminated. He also argued that Latin America should approach the issue “without shame”, because he considered the traditional anti-drug policy to be a failure.
The Colombian president is also suffering a strong political scandal over the accusations of his former foreign minister Álvaro Leyva, who publicly pointed him out for alleged addiction problems. Petro denied these versions and replied that his only “addiction” was coffee, but the episode once again fueled criticism of his speech against drugs
