This is how Juliana Guerrero and Gabriela Muñoz, the young women who have been giving explanations to Petro, strategically moved around Casa de Nariño

In less than 15 days, the young law student Gabriela Muñoz Olaya, a grade I assistant at the Civil Aeronautics, posted at least 6 photos where she is seen with President Gustavo Petro, at events in Soledad, Atlántico and in rooms of the Casa de Nariño, including the president’s office, which is reached after passing several security rings.

On June 12, she conducted an interview where she was asked about her favorite food and artists, platonic loves and about the ‘petrotusa’ for her departure from the government.

Thirteen days earlier, the same Aerocivil assistant was the master of ceremonies at the launch of the new national arrivals area of the Ernesto Cortissoz airport, which serves Barranquilla. And she shared the stage with President Gustavo Petro; the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti; with the director of Aerocivil, Luis Alfonso Martínez Chimenty; with the head of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre), Nhora Mondragón; and with the chief of staff Raúl Moreno.

And in the Government some already knew a fact that was kept under wraps: that, as revealed exclusively by EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit, Liliana Olaya, Gabriela Muñoz’s mother, was the state’s counterintelligence coordinator, at the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI), a position she reached with Jorge Lemus, former head of that powerful entity.

Besides her exposure on social media, it is claimed at the Aeronautics that Gabriela and her brother Santiago David Muñoz, pull strings of power and that explains why they landed in the entity along with 4 cousins.

“The important thing is not their positions, but the meetings they attend”, said an official and added that they arrived at work in high-end SUVs, one with license plate NKT-407 belonging to their mother.

In photos in EL TIEMPO’s possession, Gabriela is seen in a meeting with the director of Aerocivil; the then secretary of aeronautical authority, Édgar Rivera; engineer Jorge Saltarín; the head of operational security of Satena, Colonel Carlos Briñez; and the Slots coordinator, Mauricio Corredor.

This newspaper also has a series of photos showing Gabriela Muñoz’s brother in several meetings with the Aerocivil leadership.

The information reached the office of the Minister of Transport, María Fernanda Rojas; and that of Angie Rodríguez, until a few months ago Petro’s right hand. In fact, midweek, in statements to the media, Rodríguez did not hesitate to include Gabriela Muñoz in the so-called network of powerful women surrounding the President who, she says, exert influence in positions and contracts in various state entities. She mentioned Letty Leal, second in Dapre; and Juliana Guerrero, prosecuted for falsifying her degrees, who aspired to be deputy minister of youth.

Twenty-four hours later, Rodríguez went to the Commission of Investigations and Accusations of the Chamber to file a complaint against the President, where she claimed that they were trying to withdraw one trillion pesos from the Adaptation Fund, now under her charge, at the last minute. And before the Prosecutor’s Office, she said she was poisoned with some pills. In this episode, the DNI was mentioned again, where they have not commented on Liliana Olaya.

For Rodríguez and other government officials, Gabriela’s case is similar to Juliana Guerrero’s. And they requested that both cases be investigated.

“What has been said about Juliana Guerrero has been said in a thousand ways. I hope justice acts soon. It cannot be just an investigation for alleged falsification of a public document, for ‘her degree’. The recent chats are further evidence of what everyone says in Cesar and in the country: their dark interests —and those of her sister (Verónica)— in contracting with this Government”, said Andrés Idárraga, Secretary of Transparency.

The chats, published by Semana magazine, would show a network soliciting bribes from businessmen in exchange for projects and contracts in the Government.

Idárraga told EL TIEMPO that, paradoxically, Juliana’s entry door to the Government was the Presidency’s Transparency Office, where she arrived at a low position, recommended by Stalin Ballesteros. He is the first director of Colombia Compra Eficiente under the Petro government, who is connected to the University of Magdalena, where he is a professor and tried to be its rector.

Ballesteros told EL TIEMPO that he was distanced from the Guerreros, whom he met in university protests.

“We shared workspaces in the campaigns for Congress and the Presidency of the Historic Pact in 2022. Trusting the situation they claimed to be going through regarding threats against their lives in the territory, I shared their résumés in different public and private spaces, as they claimed to be displaced”, Ballesteros told EL TIEMPO and asked for the complaints to be investigated. Idárraga added that later he started seeing Guerrero appear in various entities looking like a millionaire.

She was photographed in Miami, during the World Cup and at the Fiesta del Mar. Juliana Guerrero’s social debut was made by Petro at the council of ministers on February 4, 2025, where an RTVC camera captured her face: “I want to introduce her to you, because they just gave me that cap. I borrowed it (…) Juliana is a bit young, but very active, rebellious, like the youth who made us win the elections”, said the president.

And with a scant technical course in accounting management, she landed in the Ministry of the Interior, where Minister Benedetti promoted her. She also had a contract with the Ministry of Environment, from April 2025, and another with Dapre, from March of the same year.

And as EL TIEMPO revealed, her sister Verónica is recorded with at least two contracts with Colombia Compra Eficiente, during Ballesteros’ time. Also, another with the Ministry of the Interior for more than 11 million pesos, from March 2023, with the same purpose as the one her sister signed 4 days later.

In political circles, it is claimed that Juliana Guerrero’s ‘godfathers’ are congressmen Didier Lobo (Radical Change) and Ape Cuello (Conservative), whom they place in meetings of the Superior Council of the Popular University of Cesar, where Juliana was Petro’s representative.

But both denied having closeness with Guerrero, although they admitted knowing her.

“I was invited by the mayor of La Jagua de Ibirico to approve the construction of a new campus of that university. I am in the opposition,” explained Lobo. And Ape Cuello said he met Guerrero two years ago in Armando Benedetti’s office: “But she and I are not friends. She is not my quota and I attended that session because the mayor of La Jagua invited me.”

Juliana Guerrero came out to deny meetings with contractors and having received bribes.

“She is willing to provide the necessary explanations and, in fact, we have already formally requested the Prosecutor’s Office to inform us about the investigation that was opened”, said her lawyer.

And Gabriela Muñoz said it was her mother who submitted their résumés to Aerocivil. And that she did not participate in contracts or appointments. And about her attendance at meetings, she said the director invited her: “My presence did not imply command capacity, authority to give instructions, or decision-making power.”

(Consult all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)

Petro defended both young women and after regretting having met Angie Rodríguez, said he would sue her for slander and libel. The Attorney General’s Office has already started investigations and it is expected to determine whether there was influence peddling and other conduct in the power moves of the Guerrero and Muñoz Olaya clans.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

u.investigativa@eltiempo.com

@UinvestigativaET

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