Crystal Dike
The United States on Friday, October 24, 2025, imposed sanctions on Colombia’s President, Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to curb drug trafficking and allowing cartels to “flourish.”
The move marks a dramatic escalation in the diplomatic rift between the Latin American nation’s first left-wing leader and US President Donald Trump.
Washington’s decision follows a series of disputes between both leaders, including US airstrikes on boats allegedly used to smuggle drugs. The attacks, which killed several Colombian nationals, were defended by President Trump as necessary to stop trafficking. Petro, however, condemned the strikes as “murder” and an “act of tyranny.”
Announcing the sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said cocaine production in Colombia had “exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans.” He described Petro’s policies as “disastrous and ineffective.”
The sanctions also target Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, Petro’s wife, and his eldest son, barring them from accessing any assets or properties in the United States.
Petro denounced the move as “an arbitrariness typical of an oppressive regime,” insisting his government had “stemmed the growth of coca crops” and had been fighting drug trafficking “for decades.”
Colombia, once a close US ally in the war on drugs, received hundreds of millions of dollars annually in military assistance. The US has now revoked Colombia’s certification as an ally, a designation that grants access to financial support. In response, Bogotá announced it would stop purchasing US-made weapons.
Independent researcher Héctor Galeano, of the Institute of Advanced Social and Cultural Studies of Latin America and the Caribbean, noted that cocaine production in Colombia remains at record-high levels. The US Treasury added that much of the cocaine is bought by Mexican cartels and smuggled into the US.
Petro has repeatedly argued that drug demand in the US and Europe must fall before coca cultivation can meaningfully decline. His flagship policy of achieving “total peace” through negotiations with armed groups has struggled amid renewed violence and stalled talks.
In a September interview with BBC News, Petro said US airstrikes in the Caribbean were an “act of tyranny.” He reiterated the same view at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying the attacks were “not about controlling the drug trade but about using violence to dominate Colombia and Latin America.”
While rare, sanctions against sitting heads of state are not unprecedented — leaders of Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela have previously faced similar measures.