{"id":124207,"date":"2025-01-27T06:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T06:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/colombia-backs-down-on-deportation-flights-after-trumps-tariff-threats-al-jazeera-english\/"},"modified":"2025-01-27T06:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T06:31:07","slug":"colombia-backs-down-on-deportation-flights-after-trumps-tariff-threats-al-jazeera-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/colombia-backs-down-on-deportation-flights-after-trumps-tariff-threats-al-jazeera-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombia backs down on deportation flights after Trump\u2019s tariff threats – Al Jazeera English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colombia\u2019s Gustavo Petro had vowed to refuse deportation flights until migrants were guaranteed \u2018dignified treatment\u2019.<\/em>
Colombia has backed down from a looming trade war with the United States hours after US President Donald Trump threatened Bogota with tariffs and visa restrictions for turning away US military aircraft carrying deported migrants.
The climbdown late on Sunday came after Colombian President Gustavo Petro had announced retaliatory tariffs on US imports and insisted he would not accept migrants who were not treated with \u201cdignity and respect\u201d.
In a late-night news conference, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said officials had \u201covercome the impasse\u201d and would accept citizens deported from the US.
A White House statement said Colombia had agreed to all of Trump\u2019s terms, including \u201cunrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay\u201d.
\u201cToday\u2019s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,\u201d the White House said.
Washington and Bogota had been poised for a damaging trade war after Trump announced he would hit Colombian imports with a 25 percent \u201cemergency\u201d tariff, rising to a 50 percent tariff from next week, in response to Petro\u2019s refusal to accept the deportation flights.
Trump also said he would impose a \u201ctravel ban and immediate visa revocations\u201d and \u201cvisa sanctions\u201d on government officials, as well as their family members and supporters, and enhance border inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo.
\u201cThese measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!\u201d Trump said on his social media network Truth Social.
Trump later posted an image appearing to show himself wearing a pinstripe suit and a fedora while standing in front of a sign reading \u201cFAFO\u201d, an acronym for \u201cf*** around and find out\u201d.
Petro swiftly responded to Trump\u2019s announcement by promising to impose retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 percent.
In a lengthy diatribe on X, Petro, a former member of the leftist M-19 armed rebel movement, said he did not like travelling to the US as it is \u201ca bit boring\u201d, though he acknowledged his appreciation for Walt Whitman, Paul Simon and Noam Chomsky.
\u201cMy land is made up of goldsmiths who worked in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs and of the first artists in the world in Chiribiquete,\u201d Petro said.
\u201cYou will never rule us. The warrior who rode our lands, shouting freedom, who is called Bolivar, opposes us.\u201d
Petro had said earlier he had refused the deportation flights to send a message that the US \u201ccannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals\u201d.
\u201cI cannot allow migrants to remain in a country that does not want them; but if that country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country,\u201d he said in a post on X, which included news footage showing deportees in Brazil at an airport with their hands and feet restrained.<\/p>\n

Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel, an international relations professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said while Trump may get his way with Latin American countries in the short term, his aggressive tactics could push leaders in the region to seek out alternative partners to Washington.
\u201cLeaders across Latin America will look at these moments and will, I think, be increasingly aware of the risk of being too dependent on the US,\u201d Stuenkel told Al Jazeera.
\u201cThey will seek to diversify their partnerships because for weaker countries, dealing with Washington is very challenging and the best way to increase your leverage when negotiating with Trump and expand your room for manoeuvre is to have alternatives to the US. It\u2019s to not be in situation where you are so dependent that you have nowhere to run.\u201d
Stuenkel said that Latin American leaders will have taken note of the vulnerability of Mexico and Canada, which Trump has threatened to hit with a 25 percent tariff over what he claims is their failure to stop the flow of drugs and undocumented migrants.
\u201cSo everybody looks at Mexico and Canada and says I want to avoid being Mexico and Canada because they can\u2019t really do anything when they are pressured by Trump,\u201d he said.
\u201cSo I think in the medium- and long-term, countries will be very keen to strengthen ties to other powers around the world. I think that includes Europe, but mostly China\u2026 It also includes Russia. And I don\u2019t think that should be seen as an anti-American move. I think even pro-American leaders will actually do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on Sunday, Trump\u2019s \u201cborder czar\u201d expressed confidence that countries reluctant to take back their citizens would relent under US pressure.
\u201cEl Salvador didn\u2019t want to take MS-13 members back. Took President Trump 48 hours to make that happen,\u201d Tom Homan told ABC News.
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s going to put America first, and if it doesn\u2019t, then we\u2019ll place \u2018em in a third safe country.\u201d
Trump\u2019s actions drew condemnation from several Democratic legislators, with New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warning that the tariffs would lead to higher prices for US consumers.
\u201cTrump is all about making inflation WORSE for working class Americans, not better. He\u2019s lining the pockets of himself and the billionaire class,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.
In Colombia, Petro\u2019s handling of the spat also drew fire from critics.
Ivan Duque, who served as Colombia\u2019s president from 2018 to 2022 under the banner of the right-leaning Democratic Centre party, said his rival had committed an act of \u201ctremendous irresponsibility\u201d by challenging US sovereignty without attempting dialogue.
\u201cIt is urgent that the Petro government put the country above its populist prejudices and anti-US rhetoric and quickly establish protocols for receiving deported Colombians, and avoid a situation that could structurally affect our economy and our citizens,\u201d Duque said in a post on X.
Colombia, which counts the US as its biggest trade partner, is one of a minority of nations with a trade deficit with the US.
US exports to Colombia in 2022 were worth $28.7bn, compared with imports of $24.8bn, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Top US imports from Colombia include crude oil, coffee, cut flowers and gold, while Colombia imports large amounts of US gasoline, corn and soybeans.
Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown has elevated tensions with governments across Latin America, the source of the lion\u2019s share of the estimated 11-14 million undocumented migrants in the US.
Brazil on Saturday accused the Trump administration of subjecting migrants to \u201cdegrading treatment\u201d after deportees were reportedly handcuffed during a commercial flight to return unauthorised migrants to the Latin American country.
As part of a burst of activity to follow through on Trump\u2019s campaign pledge to crack down on undocumented migration, his administration has begun using military aircraft to support deportation flights arranged by the US Department of Homeland Security.
On Friday, two Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying about 160 deportees touched down in Guatemala, making it one of the first countries known to accept the flights.
NBC News on Friday reported that Mexico had denied permission to a military plane carrying deportees.
The report, which quoted three unnamed sources, said it was unclear why Mexico had refused the flight.
Following the publication of the report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that Mexico had accepted \u201ca record\u201d of four deportation flights in a single day.<\/p>\n

Follow Al Jazeera English:<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colombia\u2019s Gustavo Petro had vowed to refuse deportation flights until migrants were guaranteed \u2018dignified treatment\u2019.Colombia has backed down from a looming trade war with the United States hours after US President Donald Trump threatened Bogota with tariffs and visa restrictions for turning away US military aircraft carrying deported migrants.The climbdown late on Sunday came after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}