Overview
- OFAC placed Gustavo Petro on the U.S. sanctions list alongside his wife Veronica Alcocer, his son Nicolas Petro, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti.
- All property and interests in property of the designees within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and must be reported to OFAC, with U.S. persons generally barred from transactions.
- Treasury highlighted a surge in coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia since Petro took office, framing the designations under counternarcotics authorities.
- The State Department said it will not certify Colombia under U.S. counternarcotics criteria, building on September’s decertification, a visa revocation for Petro, suspended assistance, and recent maritime strikes.
- Petro rejected the measures in a post on X and said he retained U.S. counsel, as Treasury warned of potential civil or criminal penalties and applied the 50 percent ownership rule to affiliated entities.