The US president, Donald Trumpordered this Sunday to impose 25% tariffs on all Colombian products, after their counterpart in the Latin American country, Gustavo Petrowill refuse in the last hours to accept two flights with deported nationals from the US.
“The denial of these flights by Petro has endangered the national and public security of the United States (…) in a week, 25% tariffs will rise to 50%,” Trump said in a network publication Social Truth, in which he also announced other “urgent and decisive retaliation measures” against Colombia.
The new Trump administration indicated on Friday that they had “started” deportations of undocumented migrants to their countries of origin, but Petro has rejected the transfer of these people to Colombia by considering that they were not receiving a “worthy” treatment.
And, according to the words of the American president himself in his latest publication, among the individuals that was intended to deport Colombia there was “a large number of criminals.”
In this sense, referring to issues of “National Security” Trump said that, in addition to tariffs, they would strengthen the customs inspection and border protection against the “products (products) of Colombia.”
Trump also referred to Petro as “the socialist president of Colombia” who “is already very unpopular among his people.”
Penalties to Petro’s government and reprisals to its surroundings
The rest of orders imposed by the US President this Sunday against the Colombian Executive are the “prohibition of traveling and the immediate revocation of visas for Colombian government officials and all allies and supporters.”
In addition to visa sanctions for all party members (Human Colombia), as well as for their relatives and supporters.
However, Trump did not report a hypothetical closure of the visas section of the US Embassy in Colombia, which had reported some local Colombian media this Sunday.
These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations in relation to the acceptance and return of the criminals who forced their access to the United States!, Concludes the publication of the US president.
Colombians are not “criminals”
For his part, Petro had asserted this Sunday that he will not allow the country of airplanes with citizens deported by the United States if they do not receive decent treatment.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. Unauthorized the entry of American airplanes with Colombian migrants to our territory. The US must establish a decent treatment protocol for migrants before we receive them, ”Petro said in their X account.
Petro had already recently questioned some of Trump’s decisions or policies, and last Tuesday he called “dangerous” the comment made by the White House on Latin America, region on which the American ruler said: “We do not need them ”
Before the announcement of the tariffs, the differences between the United States and Colombia, with whom the sending of these two flights with Colombian deportees had also extended to another countries of the Latin American region, which have disapproved of the procedures from which , according to Trump, it will be “the greatest operation of mass expulsion of foreigners in the history of the United States.”
Petro offers presidential plane for migrants and summons the CELAC
Petro ordered the use of the presidential plane for the “dignified return” of migrants, after this Sunday did not allow the entry of two aircraft with deported citizens of the United States, and summoned a meeting of the community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC) to address the immigration crisis.
The Presidency detailed in a statement that Petro “has arranged the presidential plane to facilitate the return of the nationals who were going to arrive in the country today in the morning, from deportation flights.”
“This measure responds to the government’s commitment to guarantee decent conditions. In no way, Colombians, as patriots and rights subjects, have been neither banned from the Colombian territory, ”added the information.
The announcement occurs in the midst of the controversy in several Latin American countries for deportations as part of the immigration policy of US President Donald Trump.
The Brazilian government denounced on Saturday the use of wives by US authorities against citizens of that country during a deportation flight.
On Friday, the White House indicated that the deportations of migrants had “started”, in reference to Trump’s main campaign promise to carry out the greatest operation of mass expulsion of foreigners in the history of the United States.
On the same day, the first two deportation flights to Guatemala arrived in that country from Laredo (Texas).
CELAC meeting
According to the presidency of the agency, the CELAC meeting will be held on January 30 and “it will be an opportunity to address strategic issues for the region, such as migration cooperation, human rights protection and strengthening relations between member countries ”.
“One million Latin Americans have fallen killed by the prohibition against cocaine and marijuana, while wine, whiskey and tobacco, which kill more, are legal. I believe as president of the CELAC this year, and I ask the current president of CELAC, Iris Xiomara Castro (president of Honduras), to be convened an extraordinary assembly of presidents, ”Petro wrote in X.
He added: “If you don’t love us in the north, the South must join.”
Colombia will exercise the Pro Tepore Presidency of the CELAC this year, in which the IV Celac-EU Summit in Bogotá will also host, which will bring together the 60 heads of state and government of the two regions in the second semester.
Source: Gestion
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