Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of retaliatory measures towards Colombia, together with 25 per cent tariffs on its items, after the Latin American nation declined entry to US army flights deporting migrants.
Trump lashed out after Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro refused to obtain the US plane in protest towards the best way the passengers on board had been being handled.
Trump mentioned in a submit on Reality Social on Sunday that Petro’s transfer had “jeopardised the Nationwide Safety and Public Security of the US”.
In retaliation, he introduced emergency 25 per cent tariffs which might enhance to 50 per cent in every week, alongside a journey ban and “rapid visa revocations” on Colombian authorities officers “and all allies and supporters”.
“These measures are just the start,” Trump wrote in a submit on Reality Social. “We won’t enable the Colombian Authorities to violate its authorized obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they pressured into the US!”
Petro had earlier written in a submit on X that the deported migrants ought to be handled with “dignity and respect”.
“We are going to obtain our fellow residents on civilian planes, with out treating them like criminals.”
Colombia has already turned away US army plane carrying deportees this week, Petro mentioned on Sunday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on Sunday that Petro had initially authorised the deportation flights solely to cancel them whereas they had been within the air.
“It’s the duty of every nation to take again their residents who’re illegally current in the US in a severe and expeditious method,” Rubio mentioned in a press release. “As demonstrated by right now’s actions, we’re unwavering in our dedication to finish unlawful immigration and bolster America’s border safety.”
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American research on the Council on International Relations, famous that Colombia sends nearly a 3rd of its exports to the US “so this emergency tariff and the risk to boost it additional is severe”.
“It reveals that wherever the Trump administration identifies the US nonetheless has leverage, it’s going to make use of it to the fullest to get compliance with its mass deportation coverage.”
Trump has promised to hold out the most important mass deportation of unlawful migrants in US historical past, prompting uncertainty among the many estimated 11mn undocumented immigrants within the US and resistance from would-be companions within the area.
Petro’s announcement got here a day after the Brazilian authorities condemned as “degrading” the usage of handcuffs on its nationals aboard a deportation flight from the US.
After the airplane made an unscheduled cease at Manaus on Friday as a result of technical issues, Brasília mentioned it prevented the flight from persevering with to the vacation spot of Belo Horizonte due to the cuffs, the “poor situation” of the plane and the “anger” of the 88 Brazilian residents over their “undignified remedy”.
Brazil’s justice minister mentioned there had been “flagrant disrespect for the elemental rights of Brazilian residents”.
Although Colombia and the US have lengthy been shut allies — with Washington offering round $10bn in army and international support to Bogotá as a part of its Plan Colombia aimed toward preventing insurgents and drug traffickers between 1999 and 2016 — Trump and Petro are ideologically opposed.
In 2020, Trump referred to Petro, a leftist former guerrilla, as “a serious loser”. Petro has spoken out strongly towards the US-led conflict on medicine, and cocaine manufacturing in Colombia has soared below his presidency.
In one other submit on X on Sunday, Petro referred to as for “a unprecedented assembly of Latin American presidents to look at the issues of migration and the brand new configuration of the drug market in America”.
“It’s essential for Petro and a whole lot of Latin American leaders to point out resistance to this coverage on migration,” mentioned Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Threat Evaluation, a Bogotá-based consultancy. “Petro is making an attempt to point out pressure and to challenge an ideological distinction with Trump.”
The move of migrants north via the Darién Hole, a treacherous stretch of jungle that separates Colombia and Panama, has dropped prior to now yr, as has the variety of unlawful crossings into the US.
Final yr, 302,000 migrants crossed the Darién Hole, down over 40 per cent on 2023, in accordance with Panama’s international ministry, following a crackdown by Panamanian authorities on the route which is managed by felony smuggling teams.
However many migrants used authorized pathways opened by the Biden administration to cross into the US, and the general migrant numbers are nonetheless close to current file highs.
Mexico is negotiating with the US over immigration and medicines to attempt to keep away from a 25 per cent tariff on its exports to the US from subsequent week.
Mexico‘s international ministry mentioned on Friday that it will at all times welcome Mexicans again with open arms, after NBC Information reported that it had refused to take again a army flight of migrants.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has burdened that whereas she doesn’t agree with the deportations, Mexico will co-operate with the US and have a “good” relationship with the Trump administration.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border tsar, advised ABC information on Sunday that if host nations refuse to obtain migrants, “then we’ll place ‘em in a 3rd protected nation”.
