Washington, Jan 26 (EFE). – United States President Donald Trump announced on Sunday the imposition of a 25% tariff on all Colombian products after his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, refused to accept two deportation flights from the United States.
“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro,” wrote Trump on his social network Truth Social.
“Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures: Emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States. In one week, the 25% tariffs will be raised to 50%,” he added.
Other retaliatory measures included in Trump’s message were: a travel ban and immediate revocation of visas for Colombian government officials, allies, supporters, and their family members; increased Customs and Border Protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds; IEEPA Treasury, banking and financial sanctions.
Earlier on Sunday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would not allow military planes carrying citizens deported by the United States to enter the country unless deportees were treated with dignity.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I have refused to allow US planes carrying Colombian migrants to enter our territory. The US must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” Petro said in a message on his X account.
Petro demanded deportees be sent “in civilian planes, without being treated like criminals” because “Colombia respects itself.”
Later, he offered the presidential plane for the “dignified return” of the people on board the refused military planes, as he convened a meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to address the migration crisis.
Petro also pointed out on Sunday that there are 15,660 US citizens “residing irregularly in Colombia” and urged them to “contact our immigration service to regularize their situation.”
The escalation between Colombia and the US comes amid controversy in several Latin American countries over deportations after the Trump administration promised to crack down on immigration and has used active-duty military to help secure the border and carry out deportations.
Two Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants expelled from the United States landed in Guatemala early Friday, and two other flights carrying 193 people arrived in Honduras.
Brazil on Saturday denounced the use of handcuffs by US authorities against its citizens during a deportation flight.
The Minister of Justice and Public Security Ricardo Lewandowski ordered federal police to ask US agents to “immediately” remove the handcuffs as soon as the plane made a technical stop in the city of Manaus, according to a statement.
Mexico also rejected a request last week to allow a US military plane carrying migrants to land.
On Friday, the White House said deportations of migrants had “begun”, a reference to Trump’s key campaign promise to carry out the largest mass deportation of foreigners in US history. EFE
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