President Donald Trump announced a series of retaliatory measures against Colombia after the country refused two flights of deportees from the United States.
The president has asked his administration to impose tariffs on Colombian goods, travel bans on Colombian government officials and financial sanctions, he shared in a post to Truth Social on Sunday.
“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,” Trump wrote. “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
Trump promised that 25% tariffs on all Colombian goods would rise to 50% after one week. He also indicated that he had further sanctions in store.
“These measures are just the beginning,” he wrote. “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!”
In a statement posted to X, Petro demanded that Colombian migrants be treated with “the dignity that a human being deserves.”
“A migrant is not a criminal,” he wrote. “I cannot allow migrants to remain in a country that does not want them; but if that country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country. We will receive our fellow citizens on civilian planes, without treating them like criminals.”
Trump has announced plans to impose similar tariffs on several of the United States’ biggest trading partners.
“We’re thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing vast numbers of people [into the country],” he said earlier this month.
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