BUENOS AIRES, October 25. /TASS/. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has described Washington’s sanctions on him and his family as a paradox, pointing to his country’s efforts to fight drug trafficking.

"What I received for a decades-long, effective fight against drug trafficking was such a move from the government that we have helped a lot in curbing cocaine consumption. It’s an absolute paradox, but there will be no stepping back and getting on our knees," he wrote on the X social media platform.

On Friday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury announced that Washington had decided to impose sanctions on Petro, his wife and son. Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti has also been blacklisted.