Washington — The Trump administration on Friday sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in addition to his spouse, son and a detailed affiliate, an escalation of the feud between President Trump and the person he has known as an “unlawful drug chief.”
The Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management introduced the sanctions on Petro and others, freezing their entry to U.S. belongings and blocking their capability to conduct transactions with U.S. entities.
“Since President Gustavo Petro got here to energy, cocaine manufacturing in Colombia has exploded to the best charge in a long time, flooding the USA and poisoning People,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated. “President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to cease this exercise. Immediately, President Trump is taking sturdy motion to guard our nation and clarify that we are going to not tolerate the trafficking of medicine into our nation.”
State Division spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated the U.S. “is not going to flip a blind eye to Petro’s appeasement and emboldening of narco-terrorists.”
“We’re dedicated to bringing terrorists and drug traffickers to justice and stopping lethal unlawful medicine from coming into our nation,” Pigott stated. “There have to be no impunity for drug traffickers or acts of terrorism or violence by legal armed teams.”
Petro has criticized U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats within the Caribbean and japanese Pacific Ocean, which have killed greater than 40 folks. In response, Mr. Trump stated he would lower all overseas help to Colombia and threatened to hike tariffs.
In an announcement that was posted on X in Spanish and routinely translated, Petro reacted to the sanctions, writing: “Preventing drug trafficking for many years … has introduced me this measure from the federal government of the society we helped a lot to curb their cocaine consumption. A whole paradox, however not a step again and by no means on our knees.”
In an exclusive conversation with CBS Information earlier this week, Petro claimed a few of these killed by the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats have been harmless civilians, and he reiterated his accusation that the assaults violate worldwide legislation. The White Home has denied that harmless civilians had been killed within the boat strikes.
The Pentagon additionally stated Friday that the U.S. is sending an plane provider strike group to the waters off Latin America, an escalation that may dramatically enhance the variety of service members and ships devoted to the Trump administration’s campaign to counter narcotics traffickers.
