The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro assured this Friday that he does not have assets or accounts in the United States and that, therefore, the financial sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump Administration do not affect him. “If I have never done business, I don’t have a dollar in the United States, there is no account to freeze, I have no desire nor (will I ever have) in the future to do business in the United States“said Petro during a speech before thousands of citizens gathered in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá.
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On a large stage in that central square, the political and symbolic epicenter of the country, the president spoke accompanied by ministers such as the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, who was also included today on the list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, known as the ‘Clinton List’. This inclusion, which also affects the president’s eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, and the first lady, Verónica Alcócer, implies that all their assets and properties in the United States are blocked and transactions with them are prohibited, sanctions that Petro described as an attempt to “kneel“to his Government and insisted that he is behind them”the Colombian mafia sleeping in Miami“.
“Mr. Trump has no idea what I am, what I think, or the history of this country.“said Petro, who added:”No matter what they do to me (…) I have nothing to fear, I have never let greed enter my heart“. Tensions between Bogotá and Washington worsened in September, when Washington withdrew Colombia – considered the world’s largest producer of cocaine – from the list of nations cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking. “The excuse of the fight against drugs (…) is actually a program of colonial control over the countries of Latin America, starting with Colombia“added Petro in his speech, after Trump accused him last week of being”drug trafficking leader“.
Also in September, the United States revoked the visa of the Colombian president after his participation in a pro-Palestinian meeting in New York, within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly. Petro said this Friday that he feels “proud“having spoken”on behalf of the Colombian people” before the UN and stated that it is because of that speech that today he “punish“: “I make fun of punishment“, he expressed.
Read [‘Lunático’: Marco Rubio se une a las críticas a Gustavo Petro desde Washington]
EFE.
