Colombian President’s old viral video with trans woman resurfaces amid tariff war with Trump – The Tribune

An old scandal involving Colombian President Gustavo Petro has surfaced online where he was accused of cheating on his wife with a transgender woman amid the spat with Donald Trump after the US President said he would impose retaliatory measures over the South American country turning away two US military aircraft with migrants being deported.

Petro, however, had denied the alleged rumours.

Trump after Petro’s refusal to accept immigrants vowed to impose a 25% tariff on Colombian products. Colombia also responded with a 25 per cent tariff on US goods, marking the first tariff war in his administration.

Colombia is the third-largest U.S. trading partner in Latin America.

LMAOOOO Colombia’s president is having an affair with a trans (male) model

pic.twitter.com/0pzur5hosY

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 27, 2025

The video sparked strong reactions from all walks of life in traditionally conservative Colombia, where 70 per cent of the population identify themselves as Catholic.

There was also a photo, which showed Petro taking pictures of Yepes as she posed for him in a strapless blue dress, according to the Daily Mail.

The outraged Colombian public not only accused Petro of infidelity, but also of squandering public funds.

“Your sexual orientation is irrelevant, but the use of public resources to finance your adventures would be of interest to us all,” one social media user said.

In a post on X, Petro responded to the outrage by saying he was not gay and accused “right-wing, deeply exclusionary, ignorant and discriminatory society” of spreading transphobia. “I am heterosexual, but you will never hear or read a transphobic word from me. Because not only would he cease to be a man, but a human being,” he said.

“I have always considered that privacy is the ‘last ratio’ of freedom, the last trench of being free, and I will maintain this principle until I write about myself or die,” he added.

Yepes, Colombia’s first transgender TV presenter, said she received death threats since the video emerged. Petro’s wife had not said a word over the images that went viral on social media last year.

Siempre he considerado que la intimidad es la “última ratio” de la libertad, la última trinchera del ser libre, y conservaré este principio hasta que escriba de mi mismo o muera.

Pero estos miles de mensajes transfóbicos que han estallado en manos de una sociedad de derechas,… https://t.co/o94OztkGpA

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 3, 2024