He Tried Ayahuasca! Colombian President Petro Talks About His Psychedelic Experiences Experiences

by
Nicolás Jose Rodriguez, Benzinga Staff Writer
June 25, 2024 7:13 PM | 2 min read

Most politicians prefer not to disclose their drug use or psychedelic histories. Colombian President Gustavo Petro is not one of them. He recently revealed that he has taken ayahuasca twice, an Amazonian brew also known as yagé.

"The president told me that on his second, and last, journey with yagé, he saw a vision of his death," said Daniel Coronell, author of a new book "The Children of the Amazon" in an interview last year. "I felt he was telling me that he was sure he was going to die at that moment in an attack."

Coronell, a prominent investigative journalist in Colombia, said that Petro's real-life fears may have been amplified during his psychedelic experience. Petro, then an urban guerrilla fighter in a group that would later become a political party, became paranoid under the influence of ayahuasca. His clandestine lifestyle, involving weapons and constantly anticipating ambushes from state or rival forces, contributed to his sense of paranoia.

The leftist president made these revelations to Coronell while the journalist was interviewing him for another book about the discovery of four Indigenous Colombian children who went missing in the Amazon for 40 days last year.
The children were found after a member of the search party drank ayahuasca.

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https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/06/39491084/he-tried-ayahuasca-colombian-president-petro-talks-about-his-psychedelic-experiences-experiences