Petro’s Meeting with Westcol Becomes a Social Media Hit in Colombia

Written on 03/27/2026
Josep Freixes
The meeting between President Gustavo Petro and the well-known streamer Westcol became a social media sensation in Colombia. Credit: Juan Diego Cano / Presidency of Colombia.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, held a meeting of more than an hour with streamer Westcol at the presidential palace that broke audience records on digital platforms.

The live broadcast, carried out Thursday night, at times surpassed one million viewers connected simultaneously, becoming one of the most-watched political events on social media in the country.

Beyond the number, the format marked a shift in the way power communicates with citizens. Without a formal speech or a rigid script, the head of state sat down to talk in a direct tone with one of the most influential figures in Colombian digital entertainment, in an attempt to connect with younger audiences who rarely consume traditional politics.

During the interview and the walk through the main halls of the stately building, Petro and Westcol, whose real name is Luis Fernando Villa Alvarez, discussed a wide range of topics, from the presidential elections and the challenges of paying for young people’s education to OnlyFans.

Petro’s interview with Westcol becomes a social media hit in Colombia

From that point on, everything became more relaxed. Westcol entered the presidential palace with the ease of someone going to record content, not to interview a head of state. And Petro, far from a solemn tone, settled into that setting without much resistance.

There was a tour of the Casa de Nariño—the Colombian presidential palace—personal anecdotes, and even jokes about alleged ghosts in the official residence. At times, the scene felt more like a YouTube video than an institutional meeting. But amid that laid-back vibe, substantive issues also emerged: security, poverty, education, and the future of young people in Colombia.

Petro repeatedly stressed the importance of education and expanding opportunities, while the streamer acted as a bridge to an audience that does not usually listen to full presidential speeches. The contrast worked: simple questions, long answers; humor followed by reflection.

That hybrid tone was precisely what sustained the conversation. In a matter of minutes, they could move from a joke to a serious discussion without warning. And that is where the format showed its strength.

Westcol asked unfiltered questions, some even uncomfortable or unexpected, and Petro answered without entirely dodging them. There was also room for more personal moments. The president spoke about episodes of political violence and personal losses, slowing the pace of the stream and revealing a less familiar side in this type of format.

A tie-free conversation of politics, laughter, and a million viewers

“This is not a stream, nor will it be a space focused on favoring one side or another. That was, in fact, one of the conditions from the beginning for these meetings to take place. We don’t want to support either the left or the right, nor align ourselves with any position. The intention is different: to move away from those poles and create a real connection between youth and politics. Because in the end, a young person cannot say whether the country is doing well or poorly if they don’t even understand who leads it or what is really happening,” Westcol explained.

Like any proper streamer live, the meeting could not remain just a conversation. There was an exchange of gifts, laughter, and that touch of popular culture that grounds any setting.

Because that is what the meeting was, essentially: a crossing of worlds. That of traditional power and that of online entertainment, each with its own codes, trying to understand each other in real time in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

The number ended up being impossible to ignore. More than one million people connected simultaneously at certain moments. By any Colombian standard outside of mass media, that is a massive audience.

But beyond the data, what stood out was the language. There was no jargon or stiff speeches. There was direct conversation, humor, and constant interaction with the chat, where any phrase could turn into a meme within seconds.

That sense of access—of watching the president in an everyday setting, without apparent filters—was key to engaging the audience. It also raises an uncomfortable question for traditional politics: how much of this should become the norm.

One of the issues that stood out most was the difficulty many people face in getting ahead in Colombia. “It takes nine generations for a poor person to escape poverty. It’s as if it were a form of slavery, a stigma. Change consists of accelerating that process: giving low-income people the tools to get ahead, such as land, education, and access to credit,” the president told Westcol when asked about policies to overcome poverty in the country.

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia & Westcol.
The Petro and Wescol Colombia tour began with a walk down the Hall of Presidents, where Petro told the young streamer that not all presidents are represented there, noting that the only president of Indigenous descent, Jose Maria Melo, is not yet included. Credit: Westcol / IG.

Key moments of the meeting

One of the most striking moments came when they talked about joints. Petro surprised viewers by addressing the topic naturally, in a relaxed tone and without avoiding the conversation, generating a mix of curiosity and controversy among viewers, especially given the contrast with his presidential office and the institutional context of the meeting.

Another key point was the exchange of gifts, which reinforced the informal tone of the stream. Westcol gave him items from his brand, while Petro responded with traditional symbols such as the “sombrero vueltiao.” The gesture worked as a staging of closeness between two opposing worlds: political power and digital entertainment.

The conversation about young people occupied a central place. Petro defended the idea that youth disinterest in politics is shaped by fear and historical violence, while Westcol conveyed the perception of his audience, more distant and distrustful. The exchange highlighted the gap between institutional discourse and the perspective of new generations.

There was also tension when they addressed youth crime. Petro explained his approach of dialogue with at-risk youth, but Westcol reacted with skepticism and challenged him live, producing one of the most viral moments of the meeting due to the direct clash of positions.

Finally, the reference to a hypothetical deserted island with Álvaro Uribe stood out. Petro suggested he could coexist or even work with his political rival in that scenario, a statement that drew attention for its symbolic weight in a country marked by polarization, and which closed the meeting on a tone somewhere between ironic and conciliatory.

What happened at the Casa de Nariño does not seem accidental. Rather, it signals the direction political communication is moving. Petro spoke, but also listened. Westcol asked questions, but also translated. And the audience was not passive: it reacted, gave opinions, and pushed the conversation from the chat.

In a country where politics often feels distant, the format broke that barrier for a moment. It made it something closer, more digestible, even more entertaining. It remains to be seen whether this will be repeated or remain a viral anecdote.

For now, and at least for one night, Colombian politics left behind the traditional speech, sat in front of a camera… and spoke in the language of the internet.