Conflict with Trump over cocaine: US imposes sanctions on Colombian president

On Friday, October 24, the United States imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, reports Reuters.

This happened against the backdrop of the US President Donald Trump has sharply escalated a conflict with Washington's longtime ally in Latin America over accusations that Petro refused to stop the flow of cocaine to the United States.

Tensions between Washington and many countries in the region have been building for several weeks: the US military has stepped up its activities in the southern Caribbean, striking ships in international waters that the US military claims, without evidence, are carrying drugs. In the fourth week of October, Trump called Petro an "illegal drug leader" after the Colombian leader accused the United States of "murder" over the strikes.

Petro, whose term will end in 10 months, has always opposed such strikes. The politician has tried to end Colombia's six-decade-long conflict through peace agreements and surrender treaties with rebels and criminal groups, but these efforts have yielded few results.

"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. President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation," said the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The President of Colombia denies the validity of the US accusations, claiming that the government has confiscated cocaine in unprecedented amounts and that the expansion of coca, the main ingredient in the drug, has been slowing down every year since 2021.

He also said that he had hired an American lawyer to defend him, and on Friday night he spoke to thousands of supporters in the center of the Colombian capital Bogota, saying that he had no money in the United States.

In addition to Petro, his wife and son Nicolas (a former deputy who has already been charged with corruption in Colombia), as well as the country's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, were subject to US restrictions.

Such U.S. sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of the targeted individuals and usually prohibit Americans from dealing with those individuals.

"President Trump has been clear that President Petro better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won't be done nicely," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly.

• In September, the United States decided to cancel the visa to the President of Colombia after he took to the streets of New York for a pro-Palestinian demonstration and called on American soldiers to disobey Trump's orders.
• on October 23, the US military sent to the coast of Venezuela two supersonic heavy bombersthe flight took place a little more than a week after another group of aircraft made a similar flight as part of a simulated attack exercise.