A journalistic investigation by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, published this Saturday, May 17, reveals: former President Ricardo Martinelli lives in Bogotá among luxurious hotels, restaurants, and has plans to move to Cartagena , because the altitude of the Colombian capital is not good for him.

However, on the Colombian political scene, asylum has heated things up for President Gustavo Petro . According to publications in the Colombian newspaper, the Colombian Congress has formally requested that the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explain the reasons and procedures behind the controversial political asylum granted to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli , who was sentenced in Panama to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering in the well-known New Business case .

According to the newspaper El Tiempo, ” available information indicates that there were lightning trips to Bogotá, calls between presidents, and confidential agreements behind the asylum granted to the 73-year-old former president .”

According to El Tiempo’s investigation , the asylum process was handled with a high level of secrecy and included a personal letter from Martinelli to the Colombian embassy in Panama , in which he alleged a threat to his physical and mental integrity, as well as political persecution.

The document, dated April 30, was received by Ambassador Fabio Mariño —former commander of the M-19 and close to President Gustavo Petro—who immediately traveled to Bogotá to address the case.

The Colombian media outlet reports that Martinelli was transferred from the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama—where he had been a refugee for more than a year—in a Colombian diplomatic vehicle. He then boarded his private jet with his dog, Bruno, and landed in Bogotá , where he has been seen publicly celebrating in exclusive restaurants and luxury hotels.

El Tiempo also notes that, unlike other cases of asylum granted by Colombia to those persecuted by authoritarian regimes, this case has raised suspicions even within the government itself.

Former ambassador Ángela Benedetti , sister of Interior Minister Armando Benedetti , stated that there could be ” payments ” behind the asylum. Furthermore, figures such as former Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez have strongly questioned the granting of political asylum to someone with a criminal conviction.

In this context, the Colombian Congress has begun to investigate whether Petro’s administration is setting a precedent that would allow, in the future, the granting of asylum to its own officials facing corruption charges. El Tiempo reported that formal explanations have already been requested from the Foreign Ministry, headed by Laura Sarabia , to clarify the legal and political grounds for the asylum.

Meanwhile, Martinelli’s lawyer, Carlos Carrillo , told the same newspaper that there are still pending appeals before the Supreme Court of Panama and a lawsuit in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , but he limited himself to saying that asylum was a ” diplomatic matter, from State to State .”