Colombia backs down: Presidential plane to retrieve deportees
The President of Colombia has proposed sending a government plane to the United States to bring back Colombian citizens deported from the U.S., CNN reports. Previously, the authorities in Bogotá had refused to accept American planes carrying illegal Colombian migrants. This change occurred after Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on Colombia.
The decision by the Colombian authorities changed after several hours of discussions between Bogotá and Washington.
On Sunday, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced that he decided to block deportation flights from the United States. "The U.S. can't treat Colombian migrants like criminals," he announced.
"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," the President of Colombia later explained on X.
The U.S. President decided to respond to the Colombian leader's decision, not sparing him biting comments.
"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, who is already very unpopular amongst his people," Donald Trump wrote on his profile on the Truth Social platform.
Colombia changes its mind after Trump's threats. They'll send a plane to the U.S
Trump threatened that if President Petro didn’t change his mind, he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Colombia to the U.S. These tariffs are expected to be raised to 50% within the next week.
Additionally, the Trump administration threatened to impose a travel ban and immediately revoke visas for Colombian government officials "and all allies and supporters." Visa sanctions will also include all party members, family members, and supporters of the Colombian government.
After these threats, President Petro changed his mind. As reported by CNN on Sunday evening, Colombia offered to send the presidential plane to the United States to assist in transporting Colombian citizens deported from the U.S.
