The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions against the President of Colombia and members of his inner circle for alleged drug trafficking, escalating the confrontation between the two countries, UNN reports with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
The measures, announced on Friday by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, target President Gustavo Petro, his wife, one of his sons, as well as Interior Minister and former head of his election campaign Armando Benedetti.
All four were added to the "specially designated nationals list," although US authorities have not yet provided evidence that Petro is a drug trafficker.
Trump called Petro an "illegal drug trafficking leader," accusing him of allowing drug trafficking to flourish. Despite this, the country has so far managed to avoid devastating tariffs, as Colombian business leaders have lobbied to convince Trump administration officials that the relationship goes much deeper than Petro, who will not be there next year anyway.
Add
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Petro was "crazy," but added that Colombian authorities in general are still very pro-American.
Friday's announcement came after Trump's September decision to "strip Colombia of its partner status in the fight against drugs," placing the long-time US ally in the same category as Venezuela, Bolivia, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. Petro also had his US visa revoked after he urged troops not to obey Trump's order.
US Navy destroyed drug submarine heading to the country - Trump18.10.25, 23:33 • [views_12194]
"The fight against drug trafficking for decades has actually led me to this measure from the government of a society that we have helped so much to curb cocaine consumption," Petro wrote in a social media post after the sanctions were announced.
Interior Minister Benedetti called the sanctions unfair and denied his involvement in drug trafficking in a post on X.
What else is known?
The publication notes that Colombia is currently in the midst of the largest cocaine boom in history, producing more than six times more drugs than when Pablo Escobar was shot in 1993. The cultivation of coca bushes, the raw material for drug production, increased last year to 253,000 hectares, enough to produce more than 2,600 tons of cocaine, exceeding the production of Peru and Bolivia combined.
The Andean country has historically been a close ally of Washington and is one of the largest recipients of US aid this century, receiving about $14 billion, including military equipment and training to combat drug cartels and Marxist rebels. But relations between Trump and Petro quickly deteriorated as the two leaders had very different approaches to the war on drugs, migration, and relations with Venezuela.