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The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this Friday sanctions against the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and several members of his family circle, whom it accuses of maintaining alleged links to drug trafficking and allowing the rise of cocaine trafficking into U.S. territory.
The measure, adopted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), places the Colombian president on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, an unprecedented action in the relations between Washington and Bogotá.
Alongside Petro, his wife, Verónica Alcocer García; his son, Nicolás Petro Burgos; and former ambassador Armando Benedetti Villaneda were sanctioned.
“Since President Gustavo Petro took office, the production of cocaine in Colombia has skyrocketed to record levels, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans. Under President Trump's leadership, we will not tolerate Colombia trafficking drugs into our nation,” stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
"Indeed, the threat from Bernie Moreno has been fulfilled. My children, my wife, and I have been added to the OFAC list. Fighting against drug trafficking for decades has led to this action from the government of the society we helped so much to curb cocaine consumption. It’s a complete paradox, but not a step back and never on our knees," the leader wrote.
Petro also announced that his defense will be led by the American lawyer Dan Kovalik, known for representing leftist leaders in international cases.
The sanctions against Petro and his inner circle represent the lowest point in relations between Colombia and the United States in decades; and worsened after the Colombian president accused Trump of carrying out extrajudicial killings by attacking boats in the Caribbean under the pretext of the fight against Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro and drug trafficking in the region.
El gobierno de Donald Trump había advertido la semana pasada que adoptaría “medidas firmes” contra el mandatario colombiano por su supuesta complicidad con cárteles y grupos narcoterroristas.In recent statements, Trump called Petro a “drug trafficking leader who encourages the mass production of drugs,” and threatened to cut financial and security aid to Colombia if effective measures against cocaine trafficking were not taken.
The measure has caused an immediate diplomatic crisis. Colombia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for an emergency meeting to assess the situation, while Petro's allies label the sanction as "a political aggression" and "a violation of national sovereignty."
Various analysts warn that the decision could affect bilateral cooperation on security, intelligence, and border control issues, which have been historical pillars of the relationship between both countries since the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Washington is intensifying its rhetoric against drug trafficking on the continent, as part of the “hemispheric security” policy promoted by the current U.S. administration.
The inclusion of an incumbent president on the OFAC list is unprecedented in Latin America and represents an unprecedented blow to the international image of the Colombian government.
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