The US Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of playing a “role in the global illicit drug trade.” Also sanctioned are Petro’s wife and son, and Colombia’s interior minister.
“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Petro, who has previously rejected such accusations, swiftly responded to the announcement, saying on X that he had retained an American lawyer and intended to fight the sanctions.
“Fighting drug trafficking for decades — and doing so effectively — has brought me this measure from the government of the very society we helped so much to curb its cocaine consumption,” Petro said, referring to the United States. “Quite a paradox, but not one step back, and never on our knees.”
Tensions between Petro’s government and US President Donald Trump have grown for months, especially since the United States began ramping up military activity in the southern Caribbean.
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