The United States imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday, as Donald Trump suddenly escalated the conflict with this country, which has long been an ally of Washington in Latin America, accusing Petro of refusing to stop cocaine trafficking to the United States, reports Reuters.
Tensions between Washington and many countries in the region have been rising for several weeks. The US military has stepped up activity in the southern Caribbean, attacking ships in international waters that it accuses, without evidence, of carrying drugs.
Trump this week called Petro the “leader of the illegal drug trade” after Colombia's leftist president accused the US of committing “crimes” through the attacks. On Friday night, before leaving for his Asia tour, Trump pressed the allegations.
“He's a drug dealer. The president of Colombia is a drug dealer,” the US president told reporters before boarding the plane.
Speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn prior to leaving for his trip to Asia, President Donald J. Trump called Colombian President Gustavo Petro a “drug dealer” and “drug leader” following sanctions issued today against Petro. pic.twitter.com/MjQmIh1qjw
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 25, 2025
Petro Says Fighting Drugs, US Cocaine Production 'Exploded'
Petro, whose term will end in 10 months, criticized the US attacks in the Caribbean. He has tried to end Colombia's six-decade-old internal conflict through peace and surrender deals with rebels and criminal gangs, but these efforts have yielded few results.
“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded at the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“President Petro allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop that activity. Today, President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make it clear that we will not tolerate drug trafficking in our country.”
Petro disputes the basis of the US accusations, saying his government has seized cocaine in unprecedented quantities and that the expansion of coca crops – the basic ingredient for cocaine – has slowed every year since 2021.
“What the US Treasury is saying is a lie,” Petro said Friday afternoon. “My government has not increased the production of cocaine, on the contrary, it has seized more cocaine than in the entire history of the world.”
The fourth president sanctioned by the United States
Petro, who first rose to prominence as a senator after exposing links between some of his fellow lawmakers and paramilitary groups involved in cocaine trafficking, called the sanction “a complete paradox.”
He said he had hired an American lawyer to defend him and spoke to thousands of supporters in central Bogota on Friday night, saying he had no money in the United States.
Although rare, the imposition of sanctions on a head of state is not unprecedented. The measure adds Petro to a short list that includes the leaders of Russia, Venezuela and North Korea.
Petro's wife and son, as well as Armando Benedetti, Colombia's interior minister, were also sanctioned Friday under the authority that allows Washington to target people it accuses of involvement in the global illicit drug trade.
Exchange of words between Trump and the president of Colombia
The US actions, which killed at least one Colombian, angered Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro and damaged relations between Washington and Bogota.
Petro accused his American counterpart of “carrying out extrajudicial executions” that “violate international law” by attacking suspected drug-trafficking boats.
On Sunday, Trump criticized Petro, saying the current Colombian president “is an illegal drug leader who strongly encourages massive drug production, on plantations large and small, throughout Colombia,” according to The Hill.
Also then, the US president announced the cutting of subsidies for Colombia.
