Ecopetrol Chairman Calls 2 Colombian Outlets Activists

The Ecopetrol chairman, Carlos Suárez, on Monday 5 October accused two Colombian news outlets of acting as political activists. He also warned that they would get a “political response”. It matters beyond Colombia because Ecopetrol is the country’s largest company and its shares trade in New York as ADRs.

Colombia’s main press freedom group, the Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP), rejected the remarks the same day. It asked Suárez to stop stigmatising journalists and urged President Abelardo de la Espriella to disown the comments.

Suárez is not a minor figure. He chairs the board of the state-controlled oil company and was a leading strategist of the president’s election campaign.

Suárez published a long open letter on X to Juanita León, founder and director of La Silla Vacía. It is an independent investigative news site in Bogotá that covers power and politics.

He titled it “De tú a tú, querida Juanita”, roughly “Face to face, dear Juanita”. Semana, a Bogotá news magazine, reproduced long passages of it.

In the letter, Suárez said La Silla Vacía had “unilaterally declared its enmity” towards him and towards the De la Espriella government. He described it as an “activist portal” and linked it to the personal views of its director.

He also named Cambio, a Colombian news magazine, among “activists who disguise themselves as journalists”. He wrote that La Silla Vacía behaves like a political actor, and “political actors receive a political response”.

Suárez said he did not want to silence León, because that would hand her “the role of martyr”. He counted 74 La Silla Vacía items about him between December 2025 and October 2026, by his own tally.

He made two further moves in his role as Ecopetrol chairman. He said he would step aside from any board decision involving past, present or future business between the León family and Ecopetrol. He also said he would later speak about La Silla Vacía’s funding and its alleged “links with Ecopetrol”. Those claims are his own and have not been independently confirmed.

FLIP said the remarks sought to discredit journalism and to present scrutiny of people in power as political confrontation. “The press does not become the government’s adversary by investigating it,” the group wrote in its statement.

It called the threat of a political response “especially worrying”. The outlet in question is investigating Suárez’s career, relationships and arrival on the Ecopetrol board.

FLIP also described a pattern. First journalists were dismissed as activists, it said. Then media were split into friends and non-friends. Now there is open talk of government enemies.

The group says it has documented 14 episodes since January involving the president or people close to him. They range from stigmatisation to judicial pressure and obstruction of reporting, according to FLIP.

La Silla Vacía published its own reply. It said it does not treat the people it covers as enemies and publishes what it can prove. It explained the 74 items as one investigation adapted for several social networks.

The site also argued that a chairman threatening to use information gained through his post puts Ecopetrol’s credibility at stake. It asked FLIP to reject what it called an explicit threat.

The dispute follows a La Silla Vacía story published on Sunday 27 September about Suárez’s path to the Ecopetrol board. The site says at least 27 social media accounts spread one false claim about it and its director that day.

For investors, the question is governance rather than oil output. Ecopetrol files annual reports with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and each ADR represents 20 ordinary shares.

The Colombian state owns 88.49% of the company, according to Ecopetrol’s shareholder register. A chairman who mixes a personal media feud with hints about company business is a risk that minority holders tend to price.

There is a stabiliser. The Ecopetrol chairman himself announced a recusal on matters touching the León family. That is the standard tool for a conflict of interest. Nothing in the dispute affects Ecopetrol’s operations or fuel supply.

For anyone who follows Colombia through its local press, the episode is a signal to watch. Outlets such as La Silla Vacía and Cambio are often the first to report on officials’ business links.

For travellers and residents, nothing changes in daily life. FLIP noted that Colombia’s Constitutional Court has warned that attacks by officials can put reporters at greater risk. So has the free-expression rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

It is not known whether President De la Espriella will reject the Ecopetrol chairman’s remarks, as FLIP asked.

Ecopetrol has not said whether the letter reflects any view of the company or its board. It is also unclear how the announced recusal would work in practice.

What Suárez means by a “political response”, and what he plans to say about La Silla Vacía’s funding, remains open. His claims about the León family’s business with Ecopetrol have not been independently confirmed.

Background: Colombia’s State Oil Giant Hands Its Board to the President’s Strategist and What Is Ecopetrol? Colombia’s State Oil Giant, Its Numbers and Its New Boss .

Carlos Suárez chairs the board of Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-controlled oil company. He was a leading strategist of President Abelardo de la Espriella’s election campaign.

FLIP asked Suárez to stop stigmatising La Silla Vacía, its director or any journalist investigating him. It also asked President De la Espriella to reject the remarks publicly and to prevent reprisals against media.

It does not affect operations. It raises a governance question for holders of Ecopetrol’s New York-listed ADRs. The chairman has linked a media dispute to company business and announced a partial recusal.

Sources: FLIP statement · La Silla Vacía reply · La Silla Vacía on FLIP · Semana · Minuto60 · Ecopetrol ownership

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind , Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error