LatinNews Daily - 12 May 2026

*The president of Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, has been charged with alleged campaign finance violations during President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 election campaign, in which Roa was campaign chief. According to a statement from the attorney general’s office, Roa allowed campaign spending to exceed the legal limit by Col$1.39bn (US$369,900) in the first round and by Col$276m in the second round. The statement added that this alleged excess spending was related to press conferences in hotels, food, loans, transport, logistics, advertising, and payments to a trade union, among other things. The attorney general’s office also highlighted alleged accounting irregularities which saw expenses from the first round included in financial reports from the second round, and vice versa. Roa is currently on an unpaid leave of absence which was announced in early April, after he was charged with influence peddling in a separate case on 11 March.

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