Washington has accused Gustavo Petro of enabling drug cartels, a claim he has denied

The US has imposed sweeping sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and a senior minister, accusing him of allowing drug cartels to flourish and traffic narcotics to North America. Petro rejected the accusation, saying his administration has made record progress in seizing cocaine and dismantling criminal networks.

In a statement on Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that since Petro took office in 2022, "cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans." He added that US President Donald Trump was taking "strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation."

Washington said the penalties also target First Lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, Petro's son Nicolas, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, whom it described as the Colombian leader's accomplices.  The sanctions freeze any assets they may hold in the US and prohibit American entities from dealing with them.

Trump himself earlier called Petro "a lousy leader" and "a thug", while describing Colombia as "a drug den."

In posts on X, Petro pushed back against the designation, insisting that his administration had "seized more cocaine than any in the entire history of the world." He called the Treasury's action "an arbitrariness typical of an oppressive regime," adding: "We do not kneel, we are not a colony of anyone."

The sanctions come as the US has been carrying out strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing dozens of people. While Washington has said that the vessels were allegedly linked to Venezuela, Colombia signaled its strong opposition to the campaign, condemning the strikes and urging the US "to respect the norms dictated by international law."