The USA on Friday sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, the most recent escalation of tensions between Washington and Bogotá over drug trafficking and different problems with bilateral significance.
In a press launch, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned the left-wing chief “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to cease this exercise.” The sanctions goal Petro and his associates — mainly his spouse, son and several other main Colombian officers.
Bessent added that the Trump administration’s actions are meant to “defend our nation and clarify that we’ll not tolerate the trafficking of medicine into our nation.”
Reacting to the sanctions on social media, Petro mentioned “preventing in opposition to drug trafficking for many years with effectivity has introduced these measures in opposition to me by the federal government of the nation which we assist to cease its consumption of cocaine. All a paradox, however no steps again and by no means on our knees.”
It’s extremely uncommon for the U.S. to sanction the sitting chief of a rustic, not to mention a longtime ally like Colombia. However the imposition of sanctions displays the continued tensions between Petro and the administration, because the Colombian chief has criticized the U.S. army buildup within the Western Hemisphere within the identify of combating drug cartels. Petro additionally beforehand criticized the U.S. for supporting what he alleged was an Israeli genocide in Gaza, and referred to as on U.S. officers to face fees for a latest spate of strikes in opposition to alleged drug trafficking vessels that he claims killed harmless Colombian fishermen.
The administration has made no secret of its frustrations with Colombia’s chief. Earlier this week, Trump reduce off U.S. help to Colombia after Petro attacked the administration’s drug boat strikes. And in September, the U.S. revoked Petro’s visa, citing feedback he made at a pro-Palestine protest on the sidelines of the United Nations Normal Meeting the place he referred to as on U.S. service members to withstand Israeli actions in Gaza.
Colombia was additionally lately restored to a U.S. checklist of nations seen as main hubs of narcotics trafficking. The nation’s coca fields have expanded repeatedly since Petro took energy, at the same time as Colombia has pushed again on claims that it has turned a blind eye to a resurgent cocaine trade inside its borders. Colombian officers have pointed to the continued interdiction of cocaine.
Petro, who as a younger man joined a Marxist guerrilla group that fought in opposition to the Colombian state through the South American nation’s ongoing decades-long armed battle, has advocated for reaching “whole peace” with militant teams that proceed to struggle in opposition to the Colombian state. He’s additionally downplayed the necessity for eradicating coca fields and blamed Western elites for driving demand for cocaine, severing cooperation with longtime allies, together with america.
Petro’s son, Nicolás Petro, has been accused of funneling drug cartel funds into his father’s electoral marketing campaign. However there isn’t any proof that the Colombian president himself is concerned with or immediately supportive of the cartels the U.S. hyperlinks him to.
The choice was applauded by a few of Petro’s Republican critics in Congress, a lot of whom characterize giant Colombian American communities and have bashed the chief.
“GREAT MOVE, Petro is an issue for Colombia and our hemisphere!” posted Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), chair of the Home International Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. Salazar additionally referred to as Petro a “socialist dictator” in her publish on X.