Colombian ex-foreign minister charged over nanny's lie detector test

ByVanessa Buschschlüter Latin America online editor.

Key points

• The 32-year-old was one of the closest advisers of Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president.
• Prosecutors in Colombia have accused former foreign minister Laura Sarabia of abusing her power after she created her nanny take a lie detector test.
• Prosecutors remarked Sarabia abused her position as his chief of staff by ordering police to question her nanny, Marelbys Meza, over the alleged disappearance of the cash.
• Meza informed Semana that she was taken by Sarabia's driver to an official building opposite the presidential palace, saying it felt like "a kidnapping".
• Prosecutors allege that in ordering police to question Meza, Sarabia improperly applied state resources to investigate a matter which was not related to her official post.

When Colombian news weekly Semana documented that a woman Sarabia had employed to look after her son had been hooked up to a polygraph and questioned over the alleged disappearance of a case full of cash from Sarabia's flat, the scandal erupted in 2023.

After her resignation from that post, as Colombia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, sarabia, who was the chief of staff for President Gustavo Petro at the time, resigned in June 2023 but was afterwards appointed as foreign minister and. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old was one of the closest advisers of Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president. This person governed from 2022 to August this year.

Prosecutors remarked Sarabia abused her position as his chief of staff by ordering police to question her nanny, Marelbys Meza, over the alleged disappearance of the cash. It was stated to amount to a number of thousands of dollars.

Police officers then attached her to a polygraph machine and questioned her regarding the alleged disappearance of the capital.

Meza denied having stolen any funds during the test, and has consistently denied any wrongdoing in media interviews since.

Sarabia rejected the accusation during a hearing, without going into further details.

She had earlier remarked in a social media post that her lawyers were dealing with the problem and that she respected the judicial authorities and trusted their decisions.

Taken together, the developments around colombian ex-foreign minister charged over nanny' s lie detector test point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.