Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday announced the imposition of US sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

The US accuses Petro of failing to stop drug production in the country. His wife and eldest son were sanctioned with him, as was Interior Minister Armando Benedetti.

"President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity," said Bessent. "President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation."

It is the latest escalation in US-Colombian relations as US President Donald Trump unleashes the US military in the hemisphere; deploying troops to target purported drug cartels, as well as threatening invasions and covert operations in Latin America. 

Colombia's President Petro has accused the US of ignoring international law to murder innocent people in its drug war.

Why is the US sanctioning Petro?

The sanctions on Petro are linked to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production, according to Treasury Secretary Bessent. 

The US State Department also issued a statement on Petro, pledging that the US would not turn a blind eye to his "appeasement and emboldening of narco-terrorists."

Earlier this week, President Trump warned from the Oval Office: "He's a guy that is making a lot of drugs. He better watch it, or we'll take very serious action against him and his country."

Trump regularly refers to Petro as a "drug leader" or "drug trafficker."

Recently, US military attacks have targeted boats off Colombia's coast. In one, Petro said the US killed an innocent fisherman who was stranded at sea when his boat's engine quit.

Colombia has demanded a halt to US strikes, causing Trump to react with insults, the cancellation of US foreign assistance and threats of punitive tariffs.

How did Colombia's Petro react to US sanctions?

President Petro was defiant in his response to the news.

"Combating drug trafficking effectively for decades brings me this measure from the government of the society we helped so much to stop its use of cocaine," Petro wrote on X. 

"Quite a paradox, but not one step back and never on our knees," he posted, echoing the cries of Latin American revolutionaries.

Petro has defended his policy of prioritizing agreements with coca growers to switch crops, as well as cracking down on drug lords and combating money laundering. 

He says his government has seized record amounts of cocaine, despite UN figures showing record coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production.

Pentagon deploys advanced aircraft carrier to Caribbean

US President Donald Trump has redeployed a significant amount of military hardware to the waters of Latin America and the Caribbean for his drug interdiction scheme.

Beyond bombers and warships deployed to the region, the Pentagon announced on Friday that it has dispatched the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, and its carrier air wing to the Caribbean.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Friday that the presence of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the region will "bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere." 

"These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs [Transnational Criminal Organizations]," he added. 

Pentagon carries out more strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also announced Friday the 10th US strike on suspected drug traffickers in the region. 

He said six people had been killed in the operation, bringing to 43 the total number of individuals killed by US forces since the targeted drug engagements began in September.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar