WASHINGTON, Oct 25, (AP): The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade, sharply escalating tensions with the leftist leader of one of the closest US allies in South America.

The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti. Petro "has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

"President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.” The move ramps up a growing clash between the Republican US president and Colombia's first leftist leader, notably over deadly American strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats off South America.

This week, the Trump administration expanded its crackdown to the eastern Pacific Ocean, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers, including Colombia, is smuggled. And in an escalation of military firepower in the region, the US military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, the Pentagon announced Friday.

After the sanctions were announced, Petro named an attorney he said will represent him in the US. "Combating drug trafficking effectively for decades brings me this measure from the government of the society we helped so much to stop its use of cocaine,” Petro wrote on X. "Quite a paradox, but not one step back and never on our knees.”

The US last month added Colombia, the top recipient of American assistance in the region, to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years. Following that decision, the State Department is "slashing assistance for Colombia,” spokesman Tommy Pigott said on social media. US aid is expected to be cut by at least 20%, or roughly $18 million, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to offer details that have not been made public.

The amount was an estimate and could change. A State Department statement Friday did not specify the dollar amount affected. The penalties were expected after Trump vowed to pull all payments to Colombia, which amounted to an estimated $230 million in the budget year that ended Sept. 30, a drop from recent years, when the aid exceeded $700 million, according to US figures.