Laura Sarabia, Colombia’s current ambassador to the United Kingdom, whose career in the government was marked by holding different positions. Credit: Foreign Ministry
After the defeat suffered by the government of President Gustavo Petro in the presidential election, in which his candidate Ivan Cepeda lost to right-wing politician Abelardo de la Espriella, and with barely five weeks remaining before leaving office, the resignation of the first senior official from the Petro administration has now taken place.
It is Laura Sarabia, Colombia’s current ambassador to the United Kingdom, whose career in the government was marked by holding different positions, from Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic to foreign minister. But her name also became associated with at least three scandals that complicated matters for the head of state.
Laura Sarabia thanked Petro for the confidence he placed in her
In her resignation letter, submitted this Tuesday, June 30, in London, Sarabia wrote to the president: “Dear President, through this letter I hereby formally submit my resignation from the position of Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, effective August 7, 2025, in accordance with the change of government.”
With the end of Petro’s government imminent, and because of the transition activities currently being carried out with the incoming administration of De la Espriella, it is expected that other senior officials will resign before the new government asks for their resignations.
“I deeply appreciate the confidence placed in me to carry out these responsibilities and the opportunity to have served Colombia in this diplomatic mission,” Sarabia continued in her letter. In recent months, she had maintained a cold and distant relationship with the president.
Sarabia went from being President Petro’s right-hand woman at the beginning of his administration to being accused by the president himself of appointing Daniela Andrade, her friend, to one of the country’s most important notary offices, and of handpicking the names of the government-appointed supervisors of the EPS healthcare providers that he accused of alleged mismanagement.
But those were only a few blemishes on Sarabia’s record. A professional in International Relations and Political Studies with a specialization in Political Marketing and Campaign Strategies, and a master’s degree in Political Communication, she became embroiled in the first scandal that erupted for President Petro during his administration, when the media revealed that she had allegedly ordered her nanny to undergo a polygraph test in January 2023 after a suitcase containing money went missing.
As ambassador she ends her work in the government
Then came one of the worst scandals of the government when the media, once again, released explosive audio recordings in which current Interior Minister Armando Benedetti insulted her and reproached her, saying that if it had not been for the 15 billion pesos (US$4,392,390) that he had secured on the Caribbean Coast for Petro’s presidential campaign, Petro would not have won. Benedetti also said that if he spoke out, they would all end up in prison.
In the most recent scandal involving President Petro, once again made public through press reports, Sarabia was also mentioned. Former National Police Director Henry Sanabria claimed that Sarabia called him to ask that operations against the criminal organization Clan del Golfo be suspended. Sarabia announced legal action against the retired officer for the crimes of libel and slander.
Sarabia served as Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic from August 7, 2022, until June 2, 2023, when she left the government because of the serious scandals. But in September 2023 she returned as director of the Administrative Department for Social Prosperity, and from February 23, 2024, until January 20, 2025, she served as director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (DAPRE).
From January 29 until July 3, 2025, she served as Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, becoming, to date, the youngest foreign minister the country has ever had, before later taking up the post of ambassador to the United Kingdom, a position that, for President Petro, was to be understood as a punishment.
However, there has been no shortage of voices in Colombia speaking of the president’s efforts to buy the young official’s silence. Numerous analyses have also found in her career the outline of a parabola stretching from rise to downfall.