On Tuesday, Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice chose Luz Adriana Camargo Garzon as the country's new attorney following weeks of political tensions over delays in naming someone for the role.
The president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Gerson Chaverra, told reporters in Bogotá that corruption investigator Camargo was selected with 18 votes out of 23.
Colombia Names New Attorney General
Camargo was a former judge who began serving in the attorney general's office in the 1990s for 12 years. She also worked as a prosecutor at the Supreme Court, where she looked into any connections between lawmakers and right-wing paramilitary organizations.
She is set to oversee several delicate investigations, including a probe into accusations of illegal financing in Petro's 2022 presidential campaign. As part of an investigation that started more than a year ago, the attorney general's office is also pursuing charges against Nicolas, the eldest son of Petro and a former regional politician, for alleged corruption and money laundering.
Francisco Barbosa, a well-known critic of Petro, served as the former attorney general until his four-year term ended in February. Camargo's appointment comes amid weeks of political unrest and demonstrations against the delays in appointing an official.
Petro promised to appoint a woman to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court. In January, he submitted three candidates to replace Barbosa. However, the voting process had stalled in the weeks since.
Hundreds of Petro supporters gathered around the Supreme Court last month to voice their opposition to the slowdown.
Without further pressure on the court, the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have called for Barbosa's replacement to be named as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, there was another upheaval before Camargo was voted in. Amelia Perez, who had long been seen as the frontrunner to take the position, declared she would not be running.
Perez's prospects seem less certain recently due to the controversy surrounding her husband's social media posts.
Semana magazine reported that Gregorio Oviedo, Perez's spouse, had insulted the Supreme Court and other justices on his online platforms and criticized Petro's son inquiry.
Furthermore, Petro denied wrongdoing and criticized the attorney general's office for its campaign investigation efforts. Right-wing legislators have also opposed Petro, the first leftist president in Colombian history.
Colombia's New Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo
Before her appointment on Tuesday, Camargo worked for the investigative team of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) from 2014 until 2017.
While in that role, she worked alongside current Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez Carmago also provided advice to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the kidnapping and murder of three Ecuadorian journalists by an armed group in Colombia.
She will also be in charge of a case in which it is alleged that younger Petro received payments from drug dealers in return for favorable treatment under his father's "Total Peace" plan, which is a framework for putting an end to the armed conflict that has engulfed Colombia for almost 60 years.
Furthermore, she will oversee the long-running case against right-wing former president Alvaro Uribe, who is accused of fraud and witness tampering, allegedly part of a scheme to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitary groups. Uribe has denied the accusations against him.
