Colombia Thanks Its Presidential Plane For Disruption Due To Trump Sanctions Helped By Spain

Illustration of the Boeing B-737 aircraft. (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Colombia thanked the Kingdom of Spain for helping the plane the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, when he was disturbed by US President Donald Trump's sanctions against Petro.

The plane, the Colombian President's entourage, was refused to refuel while traveling to the Middle East to transit at Barajas Madrid Airport, Spain.

Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti explained that airline refueling companies in Barajas are concerned about violating US sanctions against Petro.

"Companies that sell fuel or provide cleaning services or departure stairs (at airports) almost always belong to America," he said on his X account, quoted from AFP, Friday, October 31.

US President Donald Trump's administration is known to include the current name of the ruling President of Colombia on the US Treasury's Office of Overseas Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions under allegations Petro supports drug cartels.

"They refuse to provide services (fuel charging) because of the (list) OFAC," said Benedetti.

As a result of the sanctions, Petro and his wife, Veronica Alcocer, and his two sons, Nicolas, and Benedetti, are prohibited from traveling to the US. Any US assets they have are also frozen.

US companies or companies with US capital are also prohibited from doing business with them.

US sanctions imposed on Petro on October 24 followed months of tension between Trump and Petro over US migrant deportations and attacks on ships suspected of transporting drugs off the coast of South America.

Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla, has vehemently denied involvement in the drug trade and argues that cocaine trade is primarily driven by demand in the US and Europe.