Washington — The Trump administration on Friday sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as well as his wife, son and a close associate, an escalation of the feud between President Trump and the man he has called an “illegal drug leader.”
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions on Petro and others, freezing their access to U.S. assets and blocking their ability to conduct transactions with U.S. entities.
“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “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.”
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the U.S. “will not turn a blind eye to Petro’s appeasement and emboldening of narco-terrorists.”
“We are committed to bringing terrorists and drug traffickers to justice and preventing deadly illegal drugs from entering our country,” Pigott said. “There must be no impunity for drug traffickers or acts of terrorism or violence by criminal armed groups.”
Petro has criticized U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have killed more than 40 people. In response, Mr. Trump said he would cut all foreign aid to Colombia and threatened to hike tariffs.
In a statement that was posted on X in Spanish and automatically translated, Petro reacted to the sanctions, writing: “Fighting drug trafficking for decades … has brought me this measure from the government of the society we helped so much to curb their cocaine consumption. A complete paradox, but not a step back and never on our knees.”
In an exclusive conversation with CBS News earlier this week, Petro claimed some of those killed by the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats have been innocent civilians, and he reiterated his accusation that the attacks violate international law. The White House has denied that innocent civilians were killed in the boat strikes.
The Pentagon also said Friday that the U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the waters off Latin America, an escalation that will dramatically increase the number of service members and ships dedicated to the Trump administration’s campaign to counter narcotics traffickers.
contributed to this report.
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