In his first reaction after the inclusion of Gustavo Petro on the Clinton Listthe president of the United States, Donald Trump, once again attacked the Colombian head of state by describing him as “drug trafficking leader.”
(Read: The effects for Petro, his relatives and Benedetti of entering the Clinton List).
“He is a leader of drug trafficking. The president of Colombia is a leader of drug trafficking”the US president said before a journalist from W Radio, minutes before he boarded the Air Force presidential plane, heading to Malaysia in Asia.
The United States announced this Friday financial sanctions against the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, for failing to combat drug trafficking.
The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions against the leftist president’s wife and one of his children, as well as against Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, his right-hand man.
(See: What is the so-called Clinton List, to which President Gustavo Petro was included?).
The US sanctions list is typically reserved for drug lords, terrorists and dictators implicated in serious human rights abuses.
The decision took place on the same day that the United States announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier and its accompanying flotilla to join the military offensive that has already been operating since August to “counternarcoterrorism” in Latin America. It is the first time that a president of Colombia, the country that produces the most cocaine in the world, receives a sanction of this type.
(Besides: ‘The threat was fulfilled’: Petro on his inclusion on the Clinton list).
“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to thrive and has refused to stop this activity”US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. trump “is taking firm measures to protect” to his nation, he added.
Petro reacted in X immediately with harsh words: “Fighting drug trafficking for decades and effectively brings me this measure from the government of the society that we help so much to stop their cocaine consumption.” “Quite a paradox, but not a step back and never on your knees”he added.
Petro maintains that Trump’s advisors are close to drug traffickers and assures that cocaine lords live comfortably in US cities like Miami.
PORTFOLIO
With agency information
