Colombian President Gustavo Petro openly challenged US President Donald Trump to place him on the sanctions list maintained by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, amid allegations that members of his administration have links to criminal organizations.
Petro presented himself as defiant in the face of possible US action, declaring: “They can put me on the OFAC list ten thousand times, and if they want to put me in prison, let them try, but I will not lower my voice. I will not give up!”
The remarks represent another escalation in Petro’s confrontation with Washington and come as his government faces growing accusations and political pressure over alleged connections between senior officials, criminal groups and terrorist organizations.
Petro did not directly address the substance of the allegations in the statement. Instead, he framed the controversy as an effort to silence him and challenged the Trump administration to take action against him personally.