Petro Demands Answers as Activist Beto Coral Vanishes from US Custody

Beto Coral, who is the son of a police captain killed after the 1993 operation against Pablo Escobar, was taken into custody at his Phoenix home on Tuesday. The arrest followed a State Department memo from Secretary Marco Rubio, which accused Coral of using his US residency to conduct political activity in support of the Petro government. While federal officials cited a decade-long visa overstay, critics describe the move as a targeted act of transnational repression.

Coral’s family reports that his name has been scrubbed from the official ICE locator system, fueling fears for his safety. US Representative Jim McGovern labeled the detention a calculated weaponization of the law to punish dissent and aid political allies abroad. With the Colombian election approaching, the case has sparked international outcry, as Petro branded the activist a political prisoner and urged human rights organizations to intervene in what appears to be an unprecedented move against a foreign national’s political advocacy on American soil.