The United States Department of the Treasury has slapped sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family and the South American country’s interior minister, Armando Benedetti.

Friday’s decision marks a significant escalation in the ongoing feud between the left-wing Petro and his US counterpart, the right-wing Donald Trump.

In a statement , the US Treasury accused Petro of failing to rein in Colombia’s cocaine industry and of shielding criminal groups from accountability.

The Treasury cited Petro’s “Total Peace” plan, an initiative designed to bring Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict to an end through negotiations with armed rebels and criminal organisations.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest

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