January 28, 2025
Colombia has now agreed to accept US President Donald Trump’s forced deportations after the White House threatened to hit the South American country with tariffs if they didn’t accept.
Long close partners in anti-narcotics efforts, the U.S. and Colombia clashed Sunday over the deportation of migrants and imposed tariffs on each other’s goods in a show of what other countries could face if they intervene in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The White House held up the episode as a warning to other nations who might seek to impede his plans.
The Gustavo Petro administration in Colombia, “has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” a White House report said.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump … expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” the White House statement continue.
In a statement late on Sunday, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said: “We have overcome the impasse with the U.S. government”.
“The government of Colombia … has the presidential plane ready to facilitate the return of Colombians who were going to arrive in the country this morning on deportation flights.”
The statement did not specifically say that the agreement included military flights, but it did not contradict the White House announcement.
Murillo and Colombia’s ambassador to the United States will travel to Washington in coming days to follow up on agreements that led to the exchange of diplomatic notes between the two governments, the Colombian statement added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro had initially responded by saying his country would accept repatriated citizens on “civilian planes, without treating them like criminals”.
It’s no secret that Petro doesn’t like Donald Trump – he’s heavily criticised his policies on migration and the environment in the past.
In a lengthy response on X, he said Trump would “wipe out the human species because of greed” and accused the US president of considering Colombians an “inferior race”.
Petro went on to describe himself as “stubborn” and said that while Trump could try to “carry out a coup” with “economic strength and arrogance” he would, in short, fight back.
Most significantly, Petro said: “From today on, Colombia is open to the entire world, with open arms.”