Colombia’s outgoing leftist leader Gustavo Petro said Friday he had discussed anti-drug-trafficking efforts and sanctions against him during a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The ideologically opposed leaders have traded blows on social media multiple times, with Trump even slapping sanctions on Petro at one point.
Petro said he had a “friendly conversation” with his U.S. counterpart, just weeks after the victory of White House-backed president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella over Colombia’s first-ever leftist government.
A presidential statement said Petro had fulfilled an agreed objective of eradicating some 30,000 hectares of coca leaf -- the base ingredient of cocaine in the world’s largest producer of the drug.
Trump enthusiastically endorsed De la Espriella before and after the razor-thin runoff on June 21, which the millionaire lawyer won by less than a percentage point.
Petro voiced surprise that Trump “didn’t know that I didn’t support Abelardo de la Espriella.”
“I was astonished that he didn’t know that my family and I were still on the OFAC list,” he added on X, referring to his name appearing on a US blacklist mostly featuring major drug traffickers, terror suspects and dictators.
“He promised to take action on the matter,” Petro said.
Trump had imposed sanctions on his Colombian counterpart, calling him a “drug leader” and claiming that he was not doing enough to counter drug-trafficking.
But the pair managed to defuse their turbulent relationship during a meeting at the White House in February.
Petro will hand power to De la Espriella on August 7.
