OFAC Sanctions the President of Colombia

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the US Department of the Treasury is the agency responsible for the administration of US sanctions programs, which includes designating individuals and entities to the SDN List. On October 24, 2025, OFAC announced that it would be designating Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, the President of Columbia, to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) due to his alleged involvement in the global trade of illicit drugs.

Sanctions have long enjoyed broad bipartisan support as a tool for pursuing US foreign policy interests, and President Trump has made frequent use of them in both his terms. However, the US rarely designates sitting heads of state, with this being only the ninth instance since the US Government created the SDN List in 2001. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been designated since 2017, during Trump’s first term. Vladimir Putin has been designated since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been designated since 2006 and was re-designated in March 2022. Kim Jong Un was designated in 2016.

Sanctionable Activity - What did President Petro do to get added to the SDN List?

Petro was designated under Executive Order 14059, which allows the US Government to target foreign individuals and entities involved in the international drug trade. The US alleges that President Gustavo Petro has substantial ties to the Colombian cocaine industry, which is stated to be the world’s most significant source of cocaine. On September 15, 2025, President Trump made an official determination identifying Colombia as one of several major “drug producing countries,” claiming that cocaine production in the country has reached record levels under President Petro. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is quoted as saying that Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish.”

President Petro is a self-professed former guerrilla fighter who has since 2022 pursued a program of Total Peace designed to finally bring an end to conflict between armed groups in the country. However, these armed groups often have substantial involvement in narcotrafficking, as cocaine has long been a central source of their funding. Many institutional players rely on the highly lucrative cocaine trade, both inside and outside of Colombia. BBC reported in April 2025 that 70% of the world’s cocaine now passes first through Ecuador before being shipped to its largest markets in the United States and Europe, where cocaine seizures now surpass US levels. The Total Peace program has also suffered substantial setbacks recently due to a renewed increase in violence, which has led the Petro Government to adopt a modified approach with an increased focus on local communities. He has publicly called for the international legalization of cocaine, which is a Schedule II Drug in the United States, comparing its use to the consumption of whiskey.

Relations between Petro and the Trump administration have been deteriorating for several months due in large part to tensions over the Total Peace policy, as well as Petro’s political affiliations, activism, and Colombia’s deteriorating relationship with Israel. In January 2025, the Hague Group was announced, with Colombia as one of its founding members. In October 2025, President Petro suspended diplomatic relations with Israel following its interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which notably saw the detention of the activist Greta Thunberg. He moreover hosted a meeting of the Hague Group in Bogota in July 2025, which concluded with the Group’s recognition that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Interestingly, President Petro recently claimed that his designation to the SDN List was retaliation for his public allegations that the CIA used the Israeli-made spyware Pegasus against him. Pegasus developer NSO Group was added to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List in November 2021 for supplying spyware to foreign governments, which enabled authoritarian governments to target overseas dissidents. As of October 2025, Pegasus is now owned by a US investment group.

OFAC’s October 24th press release also highlights Petro’s relationship with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Petro has made trade agreements with Maduro, announced he would not permit Colombian territory to be used in a military intervention against Venezuela, and strongly condemned the possibility of such an intervention.

Who else was added to the SDN List in this batch of designations?

President Petro’s wife, son, and close political ally were also designated for their alleged provision of support. OFAC’s press release alleges that his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos (Nicolas Petro), is his likely political heir, and references his role as President Petro’s campaign manager and 2023 charges regarding money laundering and illicit financing as the basis of the sanctions designation. OFAC does not provide specific allegations against President Petro’s wife, First Lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, except that she was once unconstitutionally appointed an ambassador by her husband, which was later annulled by a Colombian court. A close colleague of President Petro and current Minister of the Interior, Armando Alberto Benedetti Villaneda (Armando Benedetti), was also designated for allegations related to his involvement in Petro’s 2022 electoral campaign.

How do sanctions on President Petro impact Colombia and his abilities to conduct business as head of state? How is a head of state normally restricted by designation to the US sanctions SDN List?

Sanctions targeting other heads of state have had some personal impact on the targets in limiting their access to the US financial system and ability to visit the country. They could provide a legal basis for targeting individuals who act on their behalf, such as proxies that might hold assets for them (e.g. family, close colleagues). However, they are unlikely to affect much in terms of Colombian executive’s ability to operate, except as a signal of US disfavor with its government. The US is obligated under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement to allow representatives of foreign states to visit for official UN business, as Petro did in September 2025 — before his designation to the SDN List. President Petro will likely continue to be insulated from the effect of these sanctions since he wields the executive power of the Colombian government, and will likely act through conduits, where necessary, in his personal capacity.

At two different stages in the timeline of an SDN designation, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Muhammad al-Golani) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (sanctioned since February 2022) illustrate opposite ends of US sanctions policy toward sitting heads of state. OFAC removed Al-Sharaa from the SDN List on November 7, 2025, following major political shifts in US–Syria relations after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024. Both leaders have recently traveled to the United States — Al-Sharaa’s visit marked a milestone in normalization, while Putin’s visit to Alaska for direct talks with President Trump was part of efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which remains at the center of US and allied sanctions against Russia and its leadership.

How could these sanctions impact Americans?

Sanctions impose obligations on US persons to block any property within their control that belongs to designated individuals or entities and to avoid transactions involving them. Any blocking must be reported to OFAC within 10 business days. For now, few Americans will be directly impacted by these designations, as they target only a few key government officials and their family members. Only banks or businesses that have some kind of relationship with these individuals are likely to be immediately affected.

But American businesses should still be aware of the new risks involved in dealing with Colombian partners. While these designations are highly targeted, escalating sanctions designating more Colombian officials or even companies would be unsurprising. Dealings with state-owned companies or companies with substantial relations to the Colombian government may pose future risks. These possible issues are also compounded by threats made by President Trump of further military action against Venezuela, as well as “very serious action” against Colombia. Trump has threatened that if Petro fails to close “killing fields” in Colombia the US would have to do so “for him.”

About Sanctions Law Center

The best way to avoid sanctions-related risks is through a well-designed compliance program. The OFAC Lawyers at Sanctions Law Center have years of experience helping our clients craft sanctions compliance programs tailored to their needs. Whether you need help mitigating sanctions-related risks, dealing with compliance issues, or preventing them from arising in the first place, our OFAC Lawyers can help.

We are also specialized in SDN List removals. Most SDN List designations aren’t nearly as high-profile as these. Sometimes people find themselves on the SDN List due to nothing more than a mistaken identity or some other kinds of administrative error. Others may also be designated for business dealings with SDN List individuals and entities. OFAC removes designations when they are demonstrated to be erroneous, or when there has been a compelling change in circumstance. The OFAC Lawyers at Sanctions Law Center can help you understand your chances of success and are ready to help you navigate this challenging process. Contact us here to schedule a consultation.