Navigating Sanctions Against Colombia's Head Of State
In a relatively rare use of U.S. sanctions authorities targeting foreign persons involved in the global illicit drug trade, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Colombia's President Gustavo Petro to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List on Oct 24.
OFAC concurrently designated Petro's wife, Veronica Alcocer; his eldest son, Nicolas Petro; and Colombia's Minister of the Interior Armando Benedetti Villaneda.
These sanctions follow weeks of mounting public tensions between President Donald Trump and Petro. The two have traded barbs in speeches and on social media over the expanding use of U.S. military forces to fight drug trafficking, including several U.S. military strikes on purported Colombian vessels allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean, as well as Petro's criticism of the U.S.' position on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
As a result of OFAC's action, Petro's assets under U.S. jurisdiction have been frozen, and there is a broad prohibition on "dealings" by U.S. persons or entities with Petro or anyone on the SDN List.
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