Washington, 25 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The US government has imposed sanctions against Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, whom it accuses of failing to take action against drug cartels.

The sanctions also affect his wife Verónica Alcocer, Petro's son Nicolás and the Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, the US Treasury Department announced on Friday.

Their assets in the United States have been frozen or confiscated as a result.

"President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, [US] President [Donald] Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a press release.

"He also has allied himself with the narco-terrorist regime of [Venezeulan President] Nicolas Maduro Moros and the Cartel de Los Soles," a criminal organization - also known as Cartel of the Suns - allegedly made up of high-ranking Venezuelan officials.

Petro and Trump recently clashed over the controversial US military operations against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Petro repeatedly accused the US of murder, while Trump labelled him a "drug lord."

"The decades-long and effective fight against drug trafficking has earned me this measure from the government of a society that we have helped so much to curb its cocaine consumption," Petro wrote on the social media platform X after the US sanctions were announced.

"It's a paradox, but we won't take a step back and we'll never kneel."