US imposes sanctions on leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro

The US has imposed sanctions on Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to curb drug trafficking.

“President Petro allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop that activity,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Sanctions have also been imposed on Colombia’s interior minister, Armando Benedetti, as well as Petro’s wife and eldest son. These include barring access to assets and properties they may have in the US.

Colombia was once a close ally in Washington’s war on drugs, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in military aid. But Petro and Trump have clashed frequently since Trump’s return to power.

Bessent said that since Petro, a former guerrilla, came to power, cocaine production in Colombia had “exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans.”

He added that Trump was taking “decisive action” and “will not tolerate” drug trafficking in the US.

The Treasury Department said Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine, which it says poses a “significant drug threat” to the US.

In a separate statement Friday, the State Department said it would not certify Colombia’s anti-drug efforts.

Petro denied the allegations. In a post on X, he said he has fought drug trafficking “for decades” and helped the US reduce cocaine consumption.

“A complete paradox – but never a step back and never on your knees,” he said.

In recent weeks, the US military has stepped up activity in the southern Caribbean, striking vessels in international waters it says, without evidence, are carrying drugs.

Last week, Trump announced the suspension of payments and subsidies to Colombia.

It comes after Petro told BBC News in September that airstrikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean were “act of tyranny”,accusing US officials of killing a Colombian citizen and violating his country’s sovereignty.

The imposition of sanctions on a head of state is rare but not unprecedented. Leaders of countries including Russia, North Korea and Venezuela have previously been sanctioned.