US hits Colombia's leader with unprecedented sanctions

The U.S. Treasury blacklisted Gustavo Petro, first lady Veronica Alcocer, his eldest son Nicolas, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, banning them from travel to the United States and freezing any U.S. assets they hold.

It was an unusual move. The U.S. sanctions list is usually reserved for drug kingpins, terror operatives and dictators involved in widespread human rights abuses.

The rupture caps months of personal friction between President Donald Trump and Petro over U.S. deportations and strikes on suspected drug boats off the coast of South America.

"President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity," claimed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Since taking power in 2022, Petro has opted to engage well-armed cocaine-producing groups in talks, rather than conduct open warfare.

Critics say the policy has allowed cartels and guerrilla groups to flourish, seizing territory and producing record amounts of cocaine. Much of the cocaine ends up in the United States -- the world's biggest consumer.

The U.S. government provided no evidence linking Petro directly to drug trafficking. Petro's son is accused of accepting money from an alleged drug trafficker for his father's campaign, but the case has not yet been decided in court.

The sanctions announcement was met with a furious response in Bogota.

Petro, a former guerrilla, channeled the defiant messages of famed Latin American revolutionaries.

"Not one step back and never on my knees," he posted on social media.

Benedetti, the powerful interior minister, was even more defiant, lobbing anti-U.S. slogans and denunciations.

"This proves that every empire is unjust," Benedetti said in a social media tirade against the decision.

"For the U.S., a nonviolent statement is the same as being a drug trafficker. Gringos go home."

Petro had already called for a mass protest against Trump's policies to be held in Bogota on Friday.

The United States has destroyed 10 vessels and killed at least 43 people in under two months of strikes off South America, according to an AFP tally based on U.S. figures.

Petro has called the operations "extrajudicial killings" and used a recent trip to New York to call on U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump's orders.

Trump has bristled at Petro's open criticism of his policies and fiery anti-Washington rhetoric.

Saying Petro was "a thug" with a "fresh mouth," Trump announced a freeze on hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Colombia. He had already stripped Petro of his U.S. visa before Friday's announcement.

Analysts warn the spat between the two mercurial leaders could have a profound impact on security in the hemisphere.

Colombia has long been a U.S. bulwark against cocaine flows and leftist insurgencies, and Washington's chief ally in South America.