On October 24, 2025, a dramatic escalation in U.S.-Colombia relations unfolded as the Trump administration imposed sweeping financial sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and a key cabinet minister, accusing them of enabling and participating in the global drug trade. The move, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department, reverberated instantly through diplomatic circles and ignited a firestorm of protest in Colombia, with President Petro and his supporters denouncing the sanctions as unjust, politically motivated, and a direct affront to Colombian sovereignty.
The sanctions, which target Petro, his wife Veronica Alcocer, his son Nicolas Petro, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, freeze any assets they may hold in the United States and prohibit any U.S. person or company from conducting business with them. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, "President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity." Bessent further stated that President Trump is "taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation." As reported by Havana Times and major U.S. outlets, these individuals have now been placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list—an infamous register more often reserved for drug kingpins, terrorists, and dictators with egregious human rights records.
President Petro, Colombia’s first leftist leader and a former member of the M-19 urban guerrilla group, wasted no time in firing back. Addressing thousands of supporters in Bogota’s Plaza de Bolívar at a rally he called for "peace, sovereignty, and democracy," Petro dismissed the U.S. action as a "paradox" and "an arbitrariness typical of an oppressive regime," especially given his long record of combating drug trafficking. "Fighting drug trafficking for decades with effectiveness brings me this measure from the government of the society we helped so much to halt its cocaine consumption," he wrote on social media. Speaking to the crowd, he declared, "No matter what they do to me, I have never let greed into my heart. I have never done business there; I don’t have a dollar in the United States; there are no accounts to freeze." Petro added, "Not one step back and never on our knees."
The U.S. decision comes at a time of already heightened tensions between Washington and Bogotá. Since President Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, relations have soured due to disputes over immigration policy, anti-drug strategies, and the Israeli offensive in Gaza. In mid-October, Trump publicly labeled Petro a "drug lord" and announced the suspension of economic aid to Colombia for what he described as "inaction in the fight against drug trafficking." The U.S. also revoked Petro’s visa after he urged American soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York, according to reports from Confidencial and Havana Times.
The sanctions are not limited to financial restrictions. The U.S. military has expanded its operations in the region, deploying an aircraft carrier and its escort fleet to the waters off South America, with the stated goal of countering "narco-terrorism." Since early September, U.S. strikes on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have reportedly killed at least 43 people. Petro has condemned these actions as "extrajudicial executions" and rejected what he describes as an "arms-driven farce." Interior Minister Benedetti, also sanctioned, called the United States an "unjust empire" and added, "For the United States a non-violent statement equals being a drug trafficker. Gringos go home."
The allegations against Petro’s family have further fueled the controversy. His eldest son, Nicolas Petro, is currently on trial for allegedly accepting about $100,000 from a former drug trafficker for his father’s 2022 presidential campaign—a charge he denies, asserting the money never reached campaign finances. The U.S. Treasury Department, in its statement, also cited Petro’s past as a rebel and accused him of forming alliances with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s so-called "narco-terrorist regime." The government of Venezuela, itself a frequent target of U.S. sanctions, condemned the measures against Petro as "illegal, illegitimate, and neocolonial actions that violate international law and the Charter of the United Nations," praising Petro’s counter-narcotics strategy in the process.
For Colombia, the economic implications are complex. While the sanctions effectively bar Petro and his inner circle from the U.S. financial system, they stop short of imposing the sweeping tariffs on Colombian businesses that some had feared. As noted by U.S. business press, President Trump’s strategy appears to target Petro personally while leaving broader Colombian trade interests largely untouched. Still, the State Department has announced plans to cut assistance to Colombia by at least 20%, or roughly $18 million, from the previous fiscal year. U.S. aid has already dropped sharply in recent years—from over $700 million annually to around $230 million in 2025, according to official figures.
Petro’s approach to the drug war has been a lightning rod for criticism. Breaking from decades of U.S.-backed policy, his government has prioritized negotiating with coca growers to encourage them to switch to legal crops, while focusing law enforcement on major traffickers and money laundering. Petro has boasted of record cocaine seizures, but U.N. data shows coca cultivation in Colombia has nearly tripled over the past decade, reaching a record 625,000 acres in 2023—about three times the area of New York City. The U.S. Treasury has cited these figures as evidence of Petro’s failure, while Petro counters that U.S. demand is the true engine of the drug trade, and that American advisors are themselves too close to traffickers. "Cocaine kingpins live comfortably in U.S. cities like Miami," he has alleged.
Diplomatic fallout has been swift. The Colombian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing "regret" over the "unilateral decisions that affect bilateral trust," but also affirmed that Colombia "remains open to diplomatic dialogue and mutual respect between sovereign nations." Colombia’s ambassador in Washington observed a "great distance" between Petro and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while Petro accused Republican senators close to Colombia’s right wing of orchestrating a smear campaign against him. "Indeed, Bernie Moreno’s threat was fulfilled," he remarked, referencing the Ohio senator’s vocal opposition to his government.
As the crisis deepens, Petro has vowed to defend himself in U.S. courts. "Against the calumnies that high-ranking officials have hurled at me on U.S. soil, I will defend myself judicially with American lawyers in the U.S. courts," he declared. He has named an attorney to represent him and insists that he will not back down under pressure, echoing his defiant message to supporters: "Quite a paradox, but not one step back and never on our knees."
For now, the standoff between Washington and Bogotá shows no sign of abating. With U.S. sanctions biting, military posturing on the rise, and political rhetoric growing ever more heated, both sides seem locked in a high-stakes contest—not just over drug policy, but over the future of one of the hemisphere’s most important alliances.
