The US administration announced sanctions Friday against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and Armando Benedetti, Colombia’s Minister of the Interior. The US will also reduce financial assistance to Columbia by about $18 million.

According to the US Treasury Department, the sanctions mean that all properties and property interests owned in the United States by President Petro, his family, or Benedetti are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Blocking freezes the assets, meaning that they remain the property of the current owner but cannot be transferred or used without OFAC permission.

The Department of State attributed this move as being “due to President Gustavo Petro’s disastrous and ineffective counternarcotics policies,”

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