US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened Colombia with tough measures for blocking deportation flights from the United States. He mentioned high tariffs and other sanctions, TASR reports based on reports from the AFP and Reuters agencies.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro previously declared that he would not allow US military planes carrying deported migrants to enter the airspace of the South American country.
“Peter’s denial of these flights threatened the national security and public safety of the United States, so I have directed my administration to take immediate and decisive retaliatory action,” Trump wrote on the social network.
They threaten with tariffs
According to him, the US will impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Colombia, which will increase to 50 percent after a week, ban Colombian government officials from traveling to the US and cancel their visas, as well as impose extraordinary banking and financial sanctions on the country and tighten its border controls. citizens.
“The United States cannot treat Colombian migrants like criminals. I forbid American planes with Colombian migrants from entering our territory,” wrote Petro on the X platform. He also clarified that he will accept deported persons only after Washington ensures “dignified treatment” of migrants.
Petro also pointed out that there are 15,660 Americans in Colombia without proper immigration documents. He urged them to resolve their situation, but ruled out raids aimed at arresting and expelling them.
Refusal of aircraft
Unnamed US officials told Reuters that Colombia on Sunday refused to accept two US military planes arriving from California with a total of about 160 Colombian migrants on board.
On Saturday, the Brazilian government expressed outrage over the Trump administration’s treatment of deported Brazilians. The migrants were handcuffed during the flight, which Brazil described as a “blatant disregard” for their basic rights, AFP recalls.
Mexico this week rejected a request for permission for a US military plane carrying migrants to land in the country.
