LatinNews Daily - 07 April 2026

*The board of Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol has announced that the company’s president, Ricardo Roa, will take a 30-day unpaid leave of absence effective from 28 May. The board has appointed Juan Carlos Hurtado Parra, who has served as the executive vice president of hydrocarbons since November, to act as president in Roa’s place. The announcement comes after Colombia’s attorney general’s office charged Roa with influence peddling in March. The allegations are linked to Roa’s purchase of a luxury apartment from an oil executive in 2022, who is believed to have benefitted from an Ecopetrol gas project. Roa is also accused of campaign finance violations during President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 election campaign, which Roa directed, and of corruption relating to a solar power project.