“I’m trying to escape being killed”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he narrowly avoided an assassination attempt this week, underscoring the tightening security environment ahead of Colombia’s 2026 elections. Speaking on Tuesday, Petro said his helicopter was forced to abort a landing on the Caribbean coast after authorities warned that gunmen intended to fire on the aircraft. The episode follows months of public warnings by the president that drug trafficking networks are plotting against him.

Threats and Route Changes

Petro said the helicopter, carrying him and his daughters, could not land at its scheduled destination on Monday because of received intel.

They were going to shoot at the helicopter I was travelling in with my daughters.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro

Petro added: “They didn’t even turn on the lights where I was supposed to land.”

The aircraft diverted toward open sea for several hours before, with support from the Colombian navy, reaching an alternative landing point. Security plans and travel routes were adjusted overnight.

Addressing a Council of Ministers meeting in Cordoba Department - where heavy rains and flooding have created a humanitarian emergency - Petro said, “I’m trying to escape being killed.”

He described being unable to land both the previous night and again the following morning because of information that the helicopter would be shot at.

Public broadcaster Radio Nacional de Colombia said the head of state linked the incident to other actions occurring since October of last year.

Petro has previously cited threats from a drug trafficking cartel dating back to August 2022, when he assumed office.

He also referenced another alleged attempt on his life in 2024.

Election Season Risk Curve

The security alert coincides with escalating violence months before legislative elections on March 8 and presidential elections on May 31. Petro is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term.

Last week, an observer group warned that more than 300 municipalities, roughly one-third of the country, face risks of electoral violence.

Senator Kidnapped

On Tuesday, Senator Aida Quilcue, 53, an Indigenous activist from Cauca, was kidnapped around lunchtime while traveling in an SUV with two bodyguards. Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the vehicle was later found “but with no one inside.”

Petro warned captors not to cross “a red line.” Hours later, Sanchez confirmed the senator and her escorts had been freed.

Images circulated by the military showed Quilcue at facilities of the Third Division in Cauca.

Separately last week, gunmen killed two bodyguards in an attack on a senator’s convoy in Arauca near Venezuela; the senator was not present.

Cartels, Gold, and Foreign Policy Signaling

Petro has framed the threats within a broader confrontation with narcotics networks. In October last year, he had stated that all gold confiscated from drug traffickers would be sold to fund medical care for injured children in Gaza, adding, “We will do what the wealthy countries have not done.”

Together, the helicopter diversion, the kidnapping in Cauca, and attacks in Arauca illustrate a security environment marked by cartel fragmentation and dissident armed groups, including remnants of the now-disbanded FARC.

With 2026 electoral milestones approaching in March and May, the government’s ability to protect candidates, officials, and infrastructure across more than 300 at-risk municipalities remains under sustained scrutiny.