BOGOTA: Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro had trouble refueling his plane on a trip to the Middle East after being sanctioned by the United States, his government said Thursday.
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said that the presidential plane stopped in Madrid to refuel on the way to Saudi Arabia but that officials at Barajas airport, Spain’s biggest, refused to fill it up.
After negotiations with Spain’s left-wing government, the plane landed at a military base to refuel.
President Donald Trump’s administration has accused Petro of enabling drug cartels and placed him on the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
He, his wife Veronica Alcocer, eldest son Nicolas, and Benedetti are banned from traveling to the United States and any US assets they have are frozen.
US companies or companies with US capital are also banned from doing business with them.
Writing on X, Petro thanked the “kingdom of Spain” for helping him reach Riyadh at the start of a three-country tour that will also take him to Qatar and Egypt.
Benedetti said that the aviation refueling company at Barajas was afraid of breaching US sanctions on Petro.
“The companies that sell fuel or provide cleaning services or the boarding stairs (at airports) are almost always American,” Benedetti said.
“They refused to provide the (refueling) service because of the OFAC (list),” he said, referring to harsh financial sanctions slapped by US President Donald Trump on the leftist Petro, one of his most vociferous critics.
The sanctions imposed on Petro on October 24 followed months of friction between Trump and Petro over US migrant deportations and strikes on suspected drug boats off the coast of South America.
Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla, has vehemently denied any involvement in drug trafficking and argued that the cocaine trade is being fueled chiefly by demand in the United States and Europe.
US sanctions cause plane refueling woes for Colombian leader
https://arab.news/mdz8f
US sanctions cause plane refueling woes for Colombian leader
- Officials at Barajas airport, Spain’s biggest, refused to fill plane
- After negotiations with Spain’s left-wing government, the plane landed at a military base to refuel
About 30 people are feared dead after a migrant boat capsized off Crete
- Authorities have arrested two Sudanese men, ages 25 and 19, as the suspected traffickers
ATHENS, Greece: About 30 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Greek island of Crete, Greek authorities and the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday.
The boat, carrying about 50 migrants, capsized 20 nautical miles off the port of Kali Limenes, the southernmost point on Crete, on Saturday. Three men were found dead that day and a woman’s body was found floating at sea on Sunday.
No other survivors or victims have been found since. Passing ships are continuing to search the waters, a coast guard spokesperson told The Associated Press Monday.
The capsized boat had left Tobruk, Libya on Thursday, according to survivors. There were high winds in the area Saturday.
Authorities have arrested two Sudanese men, ages 25 and 19, as the suspected traffickers.
“Just two months into 2026, at least 606 migrants have already been reported dead or missing along the Mediterranean route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. This marks the deadliest start to a year in the Mediterranean since IOM began recording such data in 2014,” the UN office said in a statement Monday.
“IOM warns that trafficking and smuggling networks continue to exploit migrants along the Central Mediterranean route, profiting from dangerous crossings in unseaworthy boats while exposing people to severe abuse and protection risks,” the statement continues.
“Stronger international cooperation and protection-centered responses are key to tackling these criminal networks and expanding safe and regular pathways to reduce risks and save lives,” it added.
