U.S. sanctions Colombian President Gustavo Petro

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of enabling drug cartels and failing to curb cocaine production in his country. The action also targets his wife, his son, and a close political ally.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday the sanctions were implemented under an Executive Order which authorizes sanctions against foreign individuals involved in the global illicit drug trade.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to record high rates, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Bessent said. “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.”

The Treasury Department accused Petro of implementing policies that benefited “narco-terrorist organizations” under his “total peace” initiative, contributing to record coca cultivation and cocaine output.

The agency also cited Petro’s alignment with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his alleged sharing of sensitive financial information that led to Colombia’s suspension from an international anti–money laundering network.

Petro responded on social media, confirming that he, his wife, and his children had been added to the U.S. sanctions list. He called the decision “a paradox.”

“After fighting drug trafficking effectively for decades, I now face this measure from a government whose society we’ve long helped to curb its cocaine consumption,” Petro wrote. “Not one step back, and never on my knees.”

In a separate post, Petro rejected the Treasury Department’s allegations, claiming that cocaine cultivation in Colombia had already peaked under former President Iván Duque and has declined under his administration. He called the sanctions “an act of arbitrariness typical of an oppressive regime.”

Petro, elected in 2022, has been an outspoken critic of President Trump’s immigration policies and U.S. military strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean.