An unlikely alliance is quietly taking shape across the Atlantic. Sources confirm that the Trump campaign has begun preliminary talks with intermediaries for the incoming Colombian administration, following the stunning victory of a political outsider in Bogotá’s mayoral election. The move signals a potential shift in Washington’s approach to Latin America, and raises uncomfortable questions about the role of foreign money in the region’s politics.
Last Tuesday, Bogotá elected Carlos Mendez, a former businessman with no prior political experience, as its new mayor. Mendez ran on an anti-corruption platform, promising to drain the swamp. Sound familiar? It should. His campaign was bankrolled in part by a network of shell companies that have been traced back to a London-based hedge fund with ties to the Trump Organization. Documents obtained by this newsroom show that two of those companies made identical donations of £250,000 to Mendez’s campaign, just days before the election. Both donations were flagged by Colombia’s electoral authority but never investigated.
The Trump campaign has confirmed that it is exploring “opportunities for stronger bilateral ties” with the Mendez administration. But the real story is about money, not diplomacy. One source within the UK’s National Crime Agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me: “We’ve been tracking these flows for months. They’re not just political donations. There’s a pattern here that suggests money laundering.” The source declined to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.
Meanwhile, the British Foreign Office is watching nervously. The UK has long been a key ally of Colombia, providing aid and trade preferences. But a Trump-backed Mendez government could upend that relationship. Mendez has already hinted at withdrawing from the joint counter-narcotics programme with the UK. That’s bad news for London, which relies on Colombian cooperation to stem the flow of cocaine into British cities.
But the real beneficiaries might be hidden in plain sight. The hedge fund that financed Mendez’s campaign, Blackstone Global Capital, has a portfolio heavily invested in Colombia’s oil and mining sectors. Mendez has promised to fast-track permits for foreign extractive industries. It’s a classic pattern: buy a politician, unlock the resources, cash out. And the UK taxpayer could end up footing the bill for the mess left behind.
I spoke to Maria Elena Rojas, a former Colombian anti-corruption prosecutor now in exile. “This is how democracies die,” she said. “Not with a bang, but with a wire transfer. The Americans and the British are playing a dangerous game. They think they can control these puppets, but the puppets have their own strings.”
Neither the Trump campaign nor Blackstone Global Capital responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Colombian embassy in London said the election was “free and fair” and that any allegations of impropriety were “baseless.” In Bogotá, Mendez’s transition team dismissed the reports as “fake news.”
But the documents don’t lie. And neither does the trail of money. As one UK intelligence source put it: “We’re watching this closely. Very closely.” The question is whether anyone will act before the next election cycle, when even more dark money floods in from London accounts with familiar names attached.
This is a story that is only just beginning to unravel. I’ll be following the money. You should too.
