After tRump threatened tariffs and sanctions on Colombia to punish it for earlier refusing to accept military flights carrying deportees, an agreement was reached to avoid a trade war with the South American country.
The jousting began early Sunday when Colombian President Gustavo Petro had earlier said he would only take back citizens “with dignity”, such as on civilian planes, and had turned back two US military aircraft with repatriated Colombians.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that every human being deserves. That is why I ordered the return of US military planes carrying Colombian migrants,” Petro wrote, sharing a video of Brazilian deportees who had been flown out of the US on Friday, shackled at the wrists and ankles.
A flight left Louisiana on Friday carrying 88 deported Brazilians, destined for Belo Horizonte in south-eastern Brazil. However, due to technical issues, it made unscheduled stops in Panama, and in Manaus in northern Brazil. Brazil dispatched its own military flight to complete the final leg, without handcuffs and leg irons.
Deportees told Brazilian media upon their arrival that they were assaulted and threatened by US agents during the flight.
Colombia is a major non-NATO ally of the U.S., but tRump still ordered steep tariffs on all Colombian imports, a travel ban for Colombian citizens, the revoking of visas for Colombian officials in the US, and suspending visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
President Petro threatened retaliatory tariffs on the US and attacked Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on social media, writing: “You will never see me burning a US flag or carrying out a raid to return handcuffed illegal immigrants to the US.”
By late Sunday evening, the White House was crowing about winning, saying Colombia had agreed to accept the migrants and Washington would not impose its threatened penalties.
“The government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” a White House statement read.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.”
