The Trump White House has accused the Colombian administration of enabling drug cartels and facilitating narcotics trafficking to North America, at a moment of immense US military build-up near Venezuela and Latin America.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that ever since Petro took office in 2022, "cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest level in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans."
He hailed Trump's "decisive action to protect our nation" which sends "a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated."
The sanctions also target First Lady Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García, Petro’s son Nicolás, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti - all alleged to be the Colombian leader's "accomplices."
American citizens and companies are now effectively barred from doing any business with these listed entities, and they will also see any assets held in the US frozen.
Petro has loudly denounced and rejected the accusations against his country, saying he's long aggressively fought the significant drug trade in his country.
The NY Times notes that a rise in illegal drugs out of the country has been a trend which began before Petro took office, though the cocaine trade has continued to worsen under his leadership.
"The cultivation of coca, the base product in cocaine, has soared since Mr. Petro took office in 2022. It also soared under his predecessor, Iván Duque, a conservative and close ally of Washington Republicans," the publication writes.
"In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would cooperate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy wouldn’t mean a thing to us."
-Former CIA Agent Philip Agee
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Gustavo Petro 10/25/2025 U.S. sanctions Colombian president
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Gustavo Petro 10/21/2025 President Trump said he would slash U.S. funding to Colombia because the country’s leader “does nothing to stop” drug production