The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of participating in the global illicit drug trade. The sanctions also target Petro’s wife, son, and Colombia’s interior minister.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that cocaine production in Colombia has reached “the highest rate in decades” since Petro took office, alleging that the surge has contributed to increased drug flows into the United States.
Petro swiftly rejected the accusations, posting on X that he has hired an American lawyer and plans to challenge the sanctions. “Fighting drug trafficking for decades — and doing so effectively — has brought me this measure from the very society we helped so much,” Petro wrote. “Quite a paradox, but not one step back.”
Relations between Bogotá and Washington have deteriorated in recent months amid growing U.S. military activity in the Caribbean. Petro has condemned U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, claiming some victims were innocent Colombians. Analysts, including Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group, describe the sanctions as a “personalization of a bilateral crisis,” noting that institutional cooperation between the two nations’ militaries remains strong despite the political tensions.
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