BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The United States and Colombia, long close partners in anti-narcotics efforts, clashed Sunday over the deportation of migrants and imposed tariffs on each other’s goods in a show of what countries could face if they intervene in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Presidents Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro, in a series of social media posts, defended their views on migration, with the latter accusing Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation and announcing a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump said the measures were necessary because Petro’s decision “jeopardized” national security in the U.S. “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “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.”
Earlier Sunday, Petro said his government would not accept flights carrying migrants deported from the U.S. until the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with “dignity.” Petro made the announcement in two posts, one of which included a news video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.
Colombia has traditionally been the U.S.’s top ally in Latin America. But their relationship has strained since Petro, a former guerrilla, became Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022 and sought distance from the U.S.
The U.S. government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding aircraft and protocols used in deportations to Colombia. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement said Petro “canceled his authorization” for the flights when the aircraft were in the air.
Petro’s government in a statement later announced that the South American country’s presidential aircraft had been made available to facilitate the return of migrants who were to arrive hours earlier on the U.S. military airplanes and guarantee them “dignified conditions.”
Trump’s actions would seem to undercut his goal to reduce his country’s trade deficit. Unlike Mexico or China, Colombia is one of the few countries with a trade deficit with the U.S., of around $1.4 billion, according to U.S. trade data.
