Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on X that Avianca canceled his tickets for the Bogotá-Mexico City route for political reasons, arguing that the US OFAC sanctions law applies only to US persons and that Avianca, which he called a UK company, acted arbitrarily under Colombian law. ^{[1][2][4][6][7][8]} Avianca stated that the cancellation was a direct result of Petro's inclusion on the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list. ^[3][5] Avianca explained that the cancellation was based on compliance with US sanctions regulations because the airline operates flights to the US, processes transactions in dollars, and uses American technology. ^[9][10] Avianca stated that its global corporate structure and use of US banking systems in dollars make OFAC sanctions binding on the airline. ^[11] Avianca clarified that the cancellation was not based on political considerations or discretionary decisions, but strictly on regulatory obligations prohibiting transactions with individuals whose assets are blocked by the SDN List. ^[12]