Petro Farewell Concert Cost About US$1.4 Million, Not US$4.4 Million

Colombia

The Petro Farewell Concert held in Bogota on Saturday had a base contract value of approximately US$1.4 million, not the US$4.4 million figure that has circulated widely in international and some Colombian media. The error originated from a misreading of Colombian peso figures as U.S. dollars, a currency confusion that inflated the reported cost by more than three times.

The Currency Correction: Pesos, Not Dollars

The correct figure is found in the public procurement process INRA-CD-1271-2026, published on Colombia’s SECOP II platform on July 27, 2026. The base value is listed as COP 4,437,187,008. At the official exchange rate of COP 3,144.14 per U.S. dollar in effect from August 1-3, 2026, this equals about US$1,411,000, or roughly US$1.4 million.

The confusion arose because Colombian media outlets, including El Colombiano, wrote the figure as ‘4,437 millones,’ meaning 4,437 million pesos. When automatically localized for U.S. readers, some platforms converted the figure directly into ‘millions of dollars,’ creating the false US$4.4 million headline. Notably, El Colombiano’s own FAQ section at the bottom of the same article correctly stated the amount was in pesos.

The contract is a direct award under a ‘special regime’ modality, not a competitive tender. It is critical to note that SECOP open data currently shows the contract’s adjudication status as ‘No’ and its total awarded value as zero. Representative Daniel Briceño, who publicized the document, asserts it was executed. The safest reading is that the COP 4,437 million figure represents the process’s estimated or base value, not a confirmed final payment.

How the US$1.4 Million Breaks Down

The contract’s internal breakdown, which appears genuine due to its arithmetic consistency, allocates funds across three lines. Technical and logistics production is priced at COP 2,020,539,965 (about US$643,000). Artist fees total COP 2,032,744,450 (about US$647,000). Value-added tax (IVA) accounts for COP 383,902,593 (about US$122,000).

The VAT line is exactly 19% of the logistics line only, with artist fees not being VAT-loaded, a detail that strongly suggests the leaked breakdown is authentic. The event, officially named Concierto de la Esperanza VII with the slogan ‘Un latido x la vida’ (A Heartbeat for Life), featured a lineup including Cuban group Orishas, Los Hermanos Lebron, Herencia de Timbiqui, and Adriana Lucia, among others. It was free to the public and broadcast on Señal Colombia, Radio Nacional, and RTVCPlay.

The Political Criticism and Austerity Context

Representative Daniel Briceño of the Centro Democrático party, who represents Bogotá, published the contract on X on July 29 and filed documents with the Procuraduría, Colombia’s inspector general’s office. In comments reported by Infobae on August 2, Briceño framed the concert as a send-off for President Gustavo Petro, whose term ends on August 7. ‘They are going to send him off with a party, a binge and a feast,’ Briceño said, calling the sum ‘four thousand four hundred and thirty-seven million pesos to give Hollman Morris a facelift and boost Gustavo Petro’s ego.’

Hollman Morris is the general manager of RTVC, Colombia’s state public-media system. Briceño also criticized singer Adriana Lucia as ‘a frozen artist’ and noted that ‘the new austerity people are keeping quiet,’ a reference to the incoming administration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella. The criticism lands against the backdrop of Colombia’s fiscal deficit and the Petro government’s own 2026 austerity plan.

Briceño has claimed nearly COP 20,000 million in total spending across all editions of the concert. However, a tally of the three RTVC-organized editions under Petro – in July 2024, June 2025, and August 2026 – comes to approximately COP 10,599 million, or about US$2.9 million at contemporaneous exchange rates, roughly half the opposition figure.

RTVC’s Silence and Morris’s Dated Defence

As of August 2, 2026, neither RTVC nor Hollman Morris has issued a statement defending this specific seventh edition of the concert. Semana magazine reported on July 29 that both entities had not responded to Representative Briceño’s claims. This absence of a current defence is a key part of the story.

Morris’s standing defence of these concerts comes from an earlier date and must be contextualized as such. Speaking to Radio Nacional in February 2025, as reported by La FM, Morris argued that the concerts are an investment, not an expense. ‘Previous governments, or certain discourses from the right, point at and stigmatise everything done in culture; for them it is expenditure. That is not true: for us it is investment,’ he said. On the budget, he stated, ‘Those resources are in the channel’s budget… they are part of a line called special projects; we did not ask for one peso more or one peso less to put on this concert.’

On July 22, 2026, Inravision published a report titled ‘Acallar a la gente!’ (Silence the People!), describing what it calls a strategy of silencing directed at the public media system. The concert was free to the public, nationally broadcast, and, according to Morris’s February 2025 position, paid from RTVC’s existing ‘special projects’ budget line rather than from new appropriations.

Oversight Status and What Comes Next

It is important to clarify what oversight actions do and do not exist. No formal investigation has been opened by the Procuraduría or the Contraloría into this 2026 concert. What exists is a congressman’s complaint filed on July 29, 2026. A separate, live Procuraduría disciplinary investigation against Hollman Morris was opened around June 4, 2026, but it concerns alleged political use of RTVC content favoring Senator Iván Cepeda, not this concert. The two matters should not be conflated.

The concert took place during President Petro’s final week in office. Petro was on an official trip to Havana, Cuba, from July 31 to August 1, and no source places him at the Plaza de Bolívar. While opposition figures and some press have labeled it a ‘farewell concert,’ Inravision billed it as a free culture-and-peace event, never as a Petro send-off.

President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, of the movement Defensores de la Patria, and Vice-President-elect José Manuel Restrepo will be inaugurated on Friday, August 7, 2026. De la Espriella won the June 21 runoff against Iván Cepeda of the Pacto Histórico by approximately 250,000 votes, the narrowest margin in Colombian history, with results around 49.7% to 48.7%.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Petro farewell concert really US$4.4 million?

No. The correct base contract value is COP 4,437 million, which is about US$1.4 million. The US$4.4 million figure was a currency misreading where Colombian pesos were mistaken for U.S. dollars.

Is the Procuraduría investigating this concert?

No. As of August 2, 2026, no formal investigation has been opened. Representative Daniel Briceño filed a complaint on July 29, but that is not an investigation. A separate disciplinary probe into RTVC’s manager concerns unrelated content allegations.

Who organized and paid for the concert?

The concert was organized by Inravision, Colombia’s state public-media system branded as RTVC, and was paid from its existing ‘special projects’ budget line, according to a February 2025 statement by its manager. It was free to the public and broadcast on public media.

{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”FAQPage”,”mainEntity”:[{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Was the Petro farewell concert really US$4.4 million?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”No. The correct base contract value is COP 4,437 million, which is about US$1.4 million. The US$4.4 million figure was a currency misreading where Colombian pesos were mistaken for U.S. dollars.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Is the Procuraduría investigating this concert?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”No. As of August 2, 2026, no formal investigation has been opened. Representative Daniel Briceño filed a complaint on July 29, but that is not an investigation. A separate disciplinary probe into RTVC’s manager concerns unrelated content allegations.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Who organized and paid for the concert?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The concert was organized by Inravision, Colombia’s state public-media system branded as RTVC, and was paid from its existing ‘special projects’ budget line, according to a February 2025 statement by its manager. It was free to the public and broadcast on public media.”}}]}

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error