What do the US sanctions against Petro and his family imply?

U.S. included this Friday the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro; his wife, Verónica Alcocer; his eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos; and the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, in the “list of specially designated nationals”, also known as “SDN list” of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, for its acronym in English) of the Department of the Treasury. The sanction has been made under a publication titled “Anti-narcotics Designations”. Petro, according to explains the Department of the Treasury, is accused of “having participated in or attempted to participate in activities or transactions that have materially contributed or represent a significant risk of materially contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production”.

You may be interested in: http://EE.UU. sanciona a Petro

While Alcocer, Petro Burgos and Benedetti, labeled as “associates and facilitators” of the president, are accused of “having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material or technological support, or goods or services in support of Gustavo Petro”.

Scope of the measure

According to the Treasury Department itself, the inclusion of these people on the SDN list implies:

• Asset freeze: all assets of sanctioned individuals located in the U.S. are frozen and must be reported to OFAC, including bank accounts, properties, and investments.
• Transaction ban: U.S. citizens and firms are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with sanctioned individuals.
• Possible isolation: financial institutions and other individuals may also risk being exposed to sanctions for participating in certain transactions or activities involving individuals on the SDN list.