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The U.S. connected Friday (October 24, 2025) imposed sanctions connected Colombian President Gustavo Petro, arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump sharply escalated a feud with Washington’s longtime Latin American state implicit accusations that Mr/ Petro has refused to halt the travel of cocaine into the United States.
Tensions betwixt Washington and galore countries successful the portion person been mounting for weeks. The U.S. subject has ratcheted up enactment successful the confederate Caribbean, striking vessels successful planetary waters that it has alleged without grounds are carrying drugs.
Mr. Trump this week called Petro an “illegal cause leader” aft the leftist president accused the U.S. of committing “murder” and said the U.S. had fired astatine a vessel disconnected Venezuela that belonged to a “humble family,” not a rebel group.
“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine accumulation successful Colombia has exploded to the highest complaint successful decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said successful a statement.
“President Petro has allowed cause cartels to flourish and refused to halt this activity. Today, President Trump is taking beardown enactment to support our federation and marque wide that we volition not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”
In a station connected X, Mr. Petro said: “Fighting cause trafficking for decades, and effectively, has brought maine this measurement from the authorities of the precise nine for whom we helped truthful overmuch to halt their cocaine consumption.
“A implicit paradox — but not 1 measurement back, and ne'er connected our knees.”
While rare, the imposition of sanctions connected a caput of authorities is not unprecedented. The determination adds Mr. Petro to a abbreviated database that includes the leaders of Russia, Venezuela and North Korea.
Mr. Petro’s woman and lad arsenic good arsenic Armando Benedetti, Colombia’s interior minister, were besides deed with sanctions connected Friday nether the authorization that allows Washington to people those it accuses of being progressive successful the planetary illicit cause trade.
On X, Benedetti said helium had been penalized for simply stating that Petro was not a cause trafficker and that the sanctions proved the U.S. anti-drug combat was a “sham.”
Friday’s enactment freezes immoderate U.S. assets of those targeted and mostly bars Americans from dealing with them.
“President Trump has been wide that President Petro amended adjacent up these sidesplitting fields immediately, oregon the United States volition adjacent them up for him, and it won’t beryllium done nicely,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
Clashes since Trump took office
Mr. Trump and Mr. Petro person clashed respective times since the Republican U.S. president took bureau successful January, including successful an escalating feud stemming from the U.S. subject strikes connected vessels allegedly transporting drugs.
Last weekend, Mr. Trump threatened to rise tariffs connected Colombia and said connected Wednesday that each backing to the state had been halted.
In a abstracted connection connected Friday, the State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio volition not certify Colombia’s counter-narcotics efforts.
Last month, the United States revoked Mr. Petro’s visa aft helium joined a pro-Palestinian objection successful New York and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.
Earlier successful the year, Mr. Petro and Mr. Trump clashed implicit Colombia’s refusal to judge subject craft carrying deported migrants.
Mr. Petro besides had differences with Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, sometimes criticizing the U.S. for a argumentation helium considered overly harsh against drug-producing countries and for not taking capable work for dealing with Americans’ request for amerciable narcotics.
But Mr. Petro and Mr. Biden sought ways to support cause enforcement practice and besides shared communal crushed connected issues specified arsenic clime alteration and migration.
Brett Bruen, who served arsenic a overseas argumentation advisor nether erstwhile President Barack Obama and is present caput of the Global Situation Room consultancy, said that Trump was creating much problems by imposing sanctions connected Petro and conducting strikes against suspected cause traffickers disconnected the seashore of Colombia.
“These cowboy theatrics whitethorn play good to his basal connected societal media, but they are creating precise combustible conditions we volition soon person to contend with connected our doorstep,” Bruen said.
Mr. Petro has pledged to tame coca-growing regions successful Colombia with monolithic societal and subject intervention, but the strategy has brought small success.
The Colombian overseas ministry connected Tuesday said Petro’s authorities had seized much cocaine than erstwhile administrations and that coca leafage harvest enlargement has slowed each twelvemonth since 2021.
In a gathering with the U.S. complaint d’affaires successful Colombia, Petro “reiterated the value of the United States basing its assessments connected close information regarding Colombia’s combat against drugs,” the ministry said.
