US sanctions Colombian president

Washington has accused Gustavo Petro of enabling drug cartels, a claim he has denied

The US has imposed sweeping sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and a senior minister, accusing him of allowing drug cartels to flourish and traffic narcotics to North America. Petro rejected the accusation, saying his administration has made record progress in seizing drugs and dismantling criminal networks.

In a statement on Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that since Petro took office in 2022, “cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans.”

He added that US President Donald Trump is taking “strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”

Washington said the penalties also apply to First Lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, Petro’s son Nicolas, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, who it described as the Colombian leader’s accomplices. The sanctions freeze any assets they hold in the US and prohibit American entities from dealing with them.

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Trump earlier called Petro “a lousy leader” and “a thug,” while describing Colombia as “a drug den.”

In posts on X, Petro pushed back against the designation, insisting that his administration has “seized more cocaine than any in the entire history of the world.” He called the treasury’s action “an arbitrariness typical of an oppressive regime,” adding: “We do not kneel, we are not a colony of anyone.”

The sanctions come after the US conducted strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing dozens of people. While Washington has claimed that the vessels were linked to Venezuela, Colombia signaled its strong opposition to the operation, condemning the strikes and urging the US “to respect the norms dictated by international law.”