A setback with Gustavo Petro’s plane has revealed the first effects of the United States Treasury sanctions against the Colombian president for alleged links to drug trafficking. The president has assured that the Boeing 737-700 in which he was traveling, bound for Saudi Arabia, had to stop at the Barajas airport in Madrid after being denied the supply of fuel during a stopover in Cape Verde. jet fuel due to the fear of a US company of incurring serious sanctions for assisting its flight. “Spain helped me,” he indicated.
Petro has given several versions of what happened. In a first publication in With this, he implied that the information was false. But minutes later, in another publication, he indicated: “And the contract must be broken unilaterally with the North American company. The Government of Colombia is respected in the world”, suggesting that at least one company did deny him the supply of fuel.
In a third publication in “[La culpa] was from the North American company with which the FAC [Fuerza Aérea Colombiana] It contracted all its gasoline outside the country, which should never have happened, and the place was Cape Verde, in Africa. Spain helped me, on the contrary,” he indicated. The Spanish Government, according to the sources cited by the radio, intervened so that the plane was transferred to a military base where they supplied the fuel so that it could continue with its journey to the Middle East.
Sources from the House of Nariño cited by The Time They assured on Wednesday that “everything was true” and that they had tried to handle the information in a “hermetic” manner until it was leaked to the press. It is still unknown which company denied the supply. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) can fine hundreds of thousands of dollars for individuals or companies that violate US Treasury regulations.
Petro was included last week in the so-called OFAC list, a directory of people the United States accuses of having ties to drug trafficking. The Treasury Department blames him for the fact that cocaine production in Colombia has skyrocketed (a fact that the president disputes) and for offering “benefits to narcoterrorist organizations.” Along with the left-wing president, very critical of Donald Trump, his wife, Verónica Alcocer, was also included in the list; his eldest son, Nicolás Petro Burgos; and the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti.
The logistical mishap in Madrid is just one of the consequences that Petro must face. Although the president claims to have no assets or bank accounts in the United States, the interconnectivity of the global financial system also affects him in Colombia. According to a 1999 ruling by the Constitutional Court, banks have the prerogative to suspend relations with a person included on a list such as that of OFAC. “The majority of Colombian financial entities maintain very important commercial relationships with US banks,” the Court explained at the time. A Colombian financial institution may be sanctioned for facilitating alleged illicit operations, putting the entire national banking system at stake.
Several local media, such as Blu Radio, have reported that , which has led the Ministry of Finance to “do all kinds of adventures” to pay the president’s salary. The radio outlet has assured that the portfolio is considering alternatives such as channeling the payment through the Agrarian Bank, a public institution. The obstacle is that the entity has a relationship with international networks such as ACH or Redeban, so transactions can also be blocked.
The Government has defended that its inclusion on the OFAC or Clinton list – which includes proven drug traffickers, terrorists and mafia members – is an “injurious” action that violates “the honorability” of the president. Petro is currently on a tour of the Middle East, where he has already visited Saudi Arabia and met with the crown prince, Mohamed Bin Salmán. He is also scheduled to visit Egypt and Qatar, a country where negotiations with the Gulf Clan criminal group are progressing.
