In an interview with local magazine Cambio on March 6, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo stated that a Portuguese court had initially approved the extradition of Marín to Colombia. However, the ruling was appealed, and the final decision is now in the hands of Portugal’s Supreme Court.

Marín’s case has dominated Colombia’s political agenda in recent months after the appearance of allegations linking him to Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign. In 2022, Marín attended a campaign meeting in a villa near Bogotá where he allegedly handed over $500,000,000 COP (around $120,000 USD as of the date of publication) to Petro’s political strategist, Xavier Vendrell (a Catalan advisor with a controversial role in Petro’s government) in cash.

President Petro has acknowledged the meeting and admitted that the money was received, but once they realized the origin of the money, they returned it. There is no clear explanation as to why the campaign did not immediately report the matter to authorities: Former Attorney General Francisco Barbosa remarked that no formal complaint was filed regarding the illegal funding. “What is worrying is not only [Petro’s] relationship with this man (trips on his plane, meetings and million-dollar contributions to his campaign), but his absolute silence when these events occurred,” Barbosa stated in a post on X.

As reported by popular Colombian news program Noticias Caracol, shortly after a confidential meeting at Colombia’s Ministry of Defense in late October 2023, in which evidence about the criminal network, bribery and corruption linked to Marín was shared, he managed to escape from Colombia to Spain on October 30, 2023, just before authorities could act. The identity of who warned him remains unknown, but it is believed to be a high-level official that attended the meeting.

In April 2024, Spanish authorities arrested Marín in Valencia, but a local court granted him conditional release, prohibiting him from leaving the country while his legal status was reviewed. However, instead of complying with the order, Marín escaped again. He crossed into Portugal, sought political asylum there and shortly the Judiciary Police, in accordance with the international search warrant sent by Interpol and issued by the Colombian authorities, was arrested in December 2024 in Portugal, where he is now under preventive detention awaiting for extradition.

Diego Marín’s criminal network extends far beyond electoral politics. At the time of his arrest in Portugal, he had been under investigation for years for leading one of Colombia’s largest smuggling and money laundering operations. Authorities have identified a vast corruption network that allegedly included high-ranking police and military officials who facilitated Marín’s contraband empire. According to Colombia newspaper El Tiempo, undercover agents—including a major in the Fiscal and Customs Police (Polfa) who initially accepted bribes—were key players in exposing the scheme.

The revelations have already triggered major repercussions within the government. In February, the administration unexpectedly removed General William René Salamanca from his position as Director of the National Police. The decision came shortly before Cambio was set to publish its report detailing Marín’s illicit financial contributions to Petro’s campaign.

President Petro has sought to distance himself from Marín. “I know how much Marín tried to reach me, thinking I was like the others. The truth will come out. His employees will reveal the traps he set. But I am ready—if the Attorney General’s Office does a thorough job—to expose all the infiltration within the state, no matter who falls,” he said in a post on X.

Every week, new revelations surrounding this case emerge or more high-level officials are implicated in the scandal, potentially leading to political and legal consequences in Colombia or at least re-shaping the future of President Petro’s political aspirations.

No amigos de Caracol TV, el señor Marin no logró meter dinero en la campaña.

No desinformen. Meter dinero en campañas es consignar en sus cuentas o usarlos en la misma. Ordené al portador que devolviera ese dinero de inmediato a su dueño y lo hice porque no me interesa ganar con… https://t.co/LjcwWiP436

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 13, 2025

Headline Photo: Diego Marín Buitrago, aka “Papa Pitufo”(Photo: National Police)

Wingo CEO Eduardo Lombana

Prior to the pandemic, Wingo was the only Colombian airline to have a regular air connection between the two countries, offering four flights per week between Bogotá’s El Dorado Airport and Maiquetía Airport, which serves Caracas.

In addition to the restoration of the route between Bogotá and Caracas, Wingo announced two additional routes between Medellín and Caracas, along with a new route between Bogotá-Valencia, once it is approved by INAC, which is expected to open on November 3.

“We celebrate the reopening of skies between Colombia and Venezuela, and we are committed to being a relevant air operator in that market. We are going to start operation between Bogotá and Caracas with the same capacity we had before the pandemic. We will have the capacity that the market demands of us, because we know that it is an essential and necessary air connection when connecting two sister countries.” said Eduardo Lombana, CEO of Wingo.

With the reactivation and launch of these Venezuelan itineraries, Wingo, owned by Panamá’s Copa Airlines, reaches 28 international routes giving it the largest international network of Colombian low-cost carriers.

“Today Colombia has more airline connections and that permits all regions and all users to benefit with more alternatives in airlines and flights, and with more connections, destinations, and frequency,” said Gustavo Alberto Lenis (above), Aeronautica Civil’s director.

New Control Tower At Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport

Aerocivil also has announced the completion and activation of a new air traffic control tower and aeronautics management center in Bogotá, at Colombia’s flagship El Dorado International Airport. Conceived in 2011, the 30 month, $50 million USD project was completed by Torre Muisca Consortium, a syndicate of contractors. The new tower and control center was built as a response to the growing demand and traffic of flights and passengers through El Dorado International Airport.

At 84 meters in height, and with an internal area of 5,430 square meters (58,448 square feet), the steel and concrete tower was designed with motifs evocative of the Muisca indigenous culture, people that still exist today, in their ancient homeland, part of which is now the city of Bogotá.

Tower characteristics:

El Dorado International Airport’s (Bogotá) Muisca Tower under final stages of construction.

• Visual ground control cabin with 360-degree views and 16 controller positions
• Technical support area
• Aeronautics meteorology stations
• Equipment room for navigation and stationary avionics equipment
• Antenna platform
• Employee lounge

The Centro de Gestión Aeronáutico de Colombia (CGAC), or Aeronautics Management Center of Colombia (pictured above), also part of the construction Project, is a 9,355 square meter (100,696 square feet) circular complex consisting of six interconnected buildings, including integrated power generation, air conditioning, and water supply. A fortified tunnel connects it with the control tower.

The CGAC is an advanced control center with radar facilities, IP telephony, redundant power and electronics, navigation, meteorology, recording and security systems, with an integrated videowall display. The CGAC is interconnected with all other air traffic control (ATC) facilities in the country, allowing real-time monitoring of any local situations or conditions elsewhere in Colombia.

“For years, the airport sector looked like a photo where decades passed without investing in the airports. Today, we are working practically on all of them to modernize and guarantee better efficiency in air operations, and the proof of that change is that we are inaugurating this advanced control tower and CGAC,” said Lenis.

Lan Colombia received approvals for the following new routes:

Route and Frequency

• Barranquilla – San Andres – Barranquilla 7 weekly
• Cartagena – San Andres – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Barranquilla – Cali – Barranquilla 7 weekly
• Medellin – Barranquilla – Medellin 7 weekly
• Medellin – Cali – Medellin 7 weekly
• Cali – Santa Marta – Cali 7 weekly
• Cartagena – Medellin – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Cartagena – Pereira – Cartagena 7 weekly
• Medellin – Santa Marta – Medellin 7 weekly
• Pereira – Santa Marta – Pereira 7 weekly
• Bogota – Punta Cana – Bogota 7 weekly
• Bogota – San Jose – Bogota 7 weekly
• Bogota – San Juan – Bogota 7 weekly

EasyFly received the following authorizations:

• Bogotá – Buenaventura – Bogotá 4 weekly
• Bogota – Florencia – Bogotá 7 weekly
• Bogotá – Popayán – Bogotá 7 weekly

American Airlines requested a route between Miami and Barranquilla – Miami with seven weekly flights, which was approved.

Delta Airlines received approval for the routes Atlanta – Cartagena – Atlanta, and Atlanta – Medellin – Atlanta with three and seven weekly flights, respectively.

Iberia was authorized to fly the route Madrid – Medellin – Cali – Madrid with three weekly flights, but may not carry domestic traffic between Medellin and Cali.

Venezuelan carrier Avior Airlines received partial approval on its application submitted May 2, 2014, where he expressed interest in operating the following routes that were authorized:

• Valencia – Bogota – Valencia 7 weekly
• Valencia – Medellin – Valencia 7 weekly
• Porlamar – Medellin – Porlamar 4 weekly
• Maracaibo – Medellin – Maracaibo 3 weekly

Meanwhile, routes to Bogota from the cities of Maracaibo and Porlamar that the airline requested were not approved due to capacity limitations at Bogotá’s El Dorado airport.

Viva Colombia (Fast Colombia, S.A.S.) requested last December 19 to operate the following routes, but was not given approval, though approval is expected when the company receives two new aircraft and has additional trained crew in place:

Bogotá – Yopal – Bogota 7 weekly

Bogota – Valledupar – Bogota 7 weekly

Bogota – Armenia – Bogotá 7 weekly

Cartagena – Armenia – Armenia 7 weekly

Medellin – Armenia – Medellin 7 weekly