US imposes sanctions on Colombia's President Petro over drug allegations

Washington on Friday, imposed unprecedented sanctions on Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro, his wife Veronica Alcocer, son Nicolas, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, accusing them of enabling drug cartels. The US Treasury blacklisted them, imposing a travel ban to the United States and freezing any assets held under its jurisdiction.

The move was highly unusual, as the US sanctions list typically targets drug lords, terrorist leaders, or dictators implicated in grave human rights abuses. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, President Petro has “allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”

Since taking office in 2022, Petro has pursued negotiations with heavily armed cocaine-producing groups instead of direct military confrontation. Critics argue this approach has emboldened criminal and guerrilla networks, allowing them to seize more territory and increase cocaine production, much of which is trafficked to the United States, the world’s largest consumer.

Although the US provided no direct evidence linking Petro personally to drug trafficking, his son Nicolas faces allegations of accepting money from a suspected trafficker during his father’s election campaign. The case remains before the courts.

Furious response in Bogota

The sanctions triggered an angry backlash in Bogota. Petro, a former guerrilla fighter, invoked the defiance of Latin American revolutionaries, declaring on social media: “Not one step back and never on my knees.”

Interior Minister Benedetti went further, condemning the move as imperial injustice and attacking Washington in a heated online statement. “This proves that every empire is unjust. For the US, a nonviolent statement is the same as being a drug trafficker. Gringos go home,” he said.

Petro had already urged Colombians to protest Trump’s policies in a mass demonstration scheduled for Friday.

Tensions escalated after the US destroyed 10 vessels and killed at least 43 people in under two months of operations off South America. Petro labelled the strikes “extrajudicial killings” and, during a visit to New York, urged US soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.

President Trump, angered by Petro’s criticism and fiery anti-Washington rhetoric, described the Colombian leader as “a thug” with “a fresh mouth.” He subsequently froze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Colombia and revoked Petro’s US visa prior to the sanctions announcement.

Analysts warn that the deepening clash between the two volatile leaders could severely undermine regional security. For decades, Colombia has been Washington’s key ally in countering cocaine trafficking and leftist insurgencies across South America.

(With agency inputs)