United States Enacts Sanctions Against Colombian President Gustavo Petro

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The United States has imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as US President Donald Trump sharply escalated a feud with the country’s longtime Latin American ally over accusations that Petro has refused to stop the flow of cocaine into the US.

Tensions between the US and many countries in the region have been mounting for weeks. The US military has ratcheted up activity in the southern Caribbean, striking vessels in international waters that it has alleged without evidence are carrying drugs.

Trump this week called Petro an “illegal drug leader” after the leftist president accused the US of committing “murder” and said the US had fired at a boat off Venezuela that belonged to a “humble family”, not a rebel group.

“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,” US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on Saturday morning AEDT.

“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to thrive, failing to put a stop to their operations. Today, President Trump is implementing decisive measures to defend our nation, underscoring our zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking into the United States,” stated a government representative.

In response, the Colombian leader expressed his dismay on X, saying, “After decades of battling drug trafficking successfully, I now face these measures from the government of the very nation for whom we significantly reduced cocaine consumption.”

The sanctions prompted a defiant response from Petro.

The sanctions imposed effectively freeze any U.S.-based assets of the individuals targeted and largely prohibit Americans from engaging in transactions with them.

“A complete paradox — but not one step back, and never on our knees.”

While rare, the imposition of sanctions on a head of state is not unprecedented.

The move adds Petro to a short list that includes the leaders of Russia, Venezuela and North Korea.

Tensions have also spiked between the US and Venezuela recently, whose government the US has long accused of harbouring drug traffickers and undermining democratic institutions.

Trump deployed an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean on Saturday as part of the US’ military buildup in the area, including eight additional warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft.

Petro’s wife and son, as well as Armando Benedetti, Colombia’s interior minister, were also hit with sanctions under the authority that allows the US to target those it accuses of being involved in the global illicit drug trade.

On X, Benedetti said he had been penalised for merely stating that Petro was not a drug trafficker and that the sanctions proved the US anti-drug fight was a “sham”.

“For the US, a nonviolent statement is the same as being a drug trafficker. Gringos go home,” Benedetti added.

“President Trump has made it clear that unless President Petro shuts down these dangerous arenas immediately, the United States will intervene, and it won’t be done gently,” announced Anna Kelly, a spokesperson from the White House.

In recent developments, the U.S. rescinded Petro’s visa following his participation in a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, where he encouraged U.S. military personnel to defy Trump’s directives.

Sanctions the latest in a string of clashes

Trump and Petro have clashed several times since the Republican US president took office in January, including in an escalating feud stemming from the US military strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs.

Last weekend, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Colombia and said this week that all funding to the country had been halted.

In a separate statement on Friday, the US state department said secretary of state Marco Rubio will not certify Colombia’s counter-narcotics efforts.

Last month, the US revoked Petro’s visa after he joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and urged US soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.

Petro also had differences with Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, sometimes criticising the US for a policy he considered overly harsh against drug-producing countries and for not taking enough responsibility for dealing with Americans’ demand for illegal narcotics.

But Petro and Biden sought ways to maintain drug enforcement cooperation and also shared common ground on issues such as climate change and migration.

Petro has pledged to tame coca-growing regions in Colombia with massive social and military intervention, but the strategy has brought little success.

On Tuesday, the Colombian foreign ministry said Petro’s government had seized more cocaine than previous administrations and that coca leaf crop expansion has slowed every year since 2021.

In a meeting with the US diplomats in Colombia, Petro “reiterated the importance of the United States basing its assessments on accurate data regarding Colombia’s fight against drugs” the ministry said.