The United States Department of the Treasury announced, on Friday, October 24, in a press release, the imposition of sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as well as against his son, his wife and his Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, accusing them of doing nothing to limit cocaine production in the country.
“Since President Gustavo Petro took office, cocaine production in the country has increased to record levels in recent decades, flowing to the United States to poison Americans,” denounced US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, quoted in the statement.
The American government particularly criticizes President Petro for his “total peace” policy aimed at pardoning members of guerrilla organizations active in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as drug trafficking groups. A policy that “has largely failed,” considers Washington.
A decision that is part of an increase in tensions between Washington and several Latin American countries, first of all Venezuela, Colombia’s neighbor, which the White House accuses of being a narco-state, considering that its president, Nicolás Maduro, is enriched by it.
An American aircraft carrier sent
The US government announced on Tuesday the dispatch of the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, in order to “reinforce current means to stop drug trafficking.”
“Fighting drug trafficking for decades and effectively has led me to this measure (sanctions) taken by a government whose country we have helped reduce cocaine consumption,” wrote Gustavo Petro in
His son, Nicolás Petro, is designated as a “political heir” and for having “been detained in Colombia, accused of personal enrichment and money laundering.” The First Lady, Verónica Alcocer, and the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, are attacked without specifying their alleged roles.
Accusations dismissed by the Minister of the Interior
Also in response to X, the latter called the United States’ “fight on drugs” a “farce” and asked them to “go home.”
“No one in this country believes that I am a drug trafficker (…) The gringos are going home,” he added.
“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to end their activities. President Trump is taking strong action to protect our country and demonstrate that we will not tolerate drug trafficking,” Scott Bessent added.
The sanctions involve freezing all assets held in the United States by the targeted individuals, directly and indirectly, as well as prohibiting American companies or citizens from doing business with them. They also prevent foreign companies or citizens from using the dollar in their transactions with targeted people.
Previous tensions
Tensions between Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart began over the immigration issue, when Bogotá refused to land US military planes transporting expelled Colombians on its soil, before sending planes to the United States to repatriate them.
It was then the United States attacks in the Caribbean, against vessels suspected of being used by drug traffickers, that reinforced the animosity between the two countries, with Gustavo Petro accusing the American government of carrying out “extrajudicial executions.”
Donald Trump called his counterpart a “drug lord” and a “thug.” The left-wing elected official responded by announcing that he wanted to file a defamation complaint in US courts.
Source: BFM TV
