The President of Colombia in response to US sanctions: I will never kneel news

Today, Friday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quick to respond with a “challenge” to his inclusion with his family on the US sanctions list, in a new chapter of tense relations between the two countries.

“I will not take a single step back and I will never kneel,” Petro wrote on social media, borrowing slogans used by Latin American revolutionaries.

On Friday, the United States announced the imposition of sanctions on Petro, whom Washington had previously accused of “inability to confront drug trafficking,” in addition to his wife and son.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said in a statement, “President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and has refused to confront this activity.”

Scott added, “President Donald Trump is taking extreme measures to protect our nation and to ensure that we will not tolerate drug smuggling into our country.”

Earlier this week, the US President threatened to increase customs duties on Colombia, and on Wednesday he announced the cessation of all funding provided to it.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Colombian president accused the United States of carrying out “executions” in connection with the strikes it launched on boats in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which it says target drug smugglers.

Petro also announced that he would take legal measures in the United States against the US President on charges of slander and defamation after Trump described him as a “thug.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also described President Petro as “crazy,” while Colombia recalled its ambassador from Washington and called for dialogue.

Relations between Washington and Bogotá have witnessed increasing tension since Trump’s return to the White House. Last month, the United States canceled President Petro’s visa after he participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York and called on American soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.

The Colombian president also previously held his American counterpart responsible for Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and considered him an accomplice in the crime of genocide in the Strip.