DOHA (Reuters) -Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the U.S. does not want to harm Colombia’s people and its economy with sanctions imposed on President Gustavo Petro.

Washington on Friday blacklisted Petro and his family, accusing him of appeasing and emboldening “narco terrorists.”

Rubio, speaking to reporters en route from Israel to Qatar, said the United States has a “strong and enduring” relationship with the Colombian people and many of the Latin American country’s institutions, especially the security forces.

The U.S. military has ratcheted up activity in the southern Caribbean, striking vessels in international waters that it has alleged without evidence are carrying drugs. President Donald Trump this week called Petro an “illegal drug leader” after the leftist

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