After Trump’s retaliation against Colombia, Petro accepts his terms
DORAL, FL – On Sunday, the United States and Colombia exchanged a series of measures against each other that started when Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, rejected two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants, claiming that wasn’t a dignified treatment for migrants.
Immediately after the US government announced it will impose a suspension of visas at the United States embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, and later on the day that it will also impose a 25% tariff on all Colombian incoming goods, which would be raised to 50% in one week.
In addition, the government also announced a travel ban consisting of an immediate prohibition on travel to the United States and cancellation of visas for Colombian government officials, their allies, and supporters, visa sanctions for party members, family members, and supporters of the Colombian government, enhanced inspections at airports and financial sanctions.
But after Petro announced a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods, Sunday ended with the Colombian government agreeing to all of President’s Trump terms.
“The Government of 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 aircrafts, without limitation or delay,” reads a statement of the Press Secretary from the White House.
This announcement, according to the statement, means “the fully drafted IEEPA tariffs and sanctions will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement.”
The statement also explains the visa sanctions issued by the State Department, and enhanced inspections from Customs and Border Protection will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States.”
The visa suspension announced earlier in the day was confirmed by U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who said he was authorizing the visa restrictions on Colombian government officials and their families “who were responsible for the interference of U.S. repatriation flight operations.”
They were being imposed in addition to the State Department’s move to suspend the processing of visas at the US Embassy in Colombia. The restrictions will continue, Rubio said, “until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens.”
“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.”
The stance of Petro, that sparked the agitated Sunday Colombians had, is that Trump’s administration needed to create a protocol that treats migrants with “dignity.”
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro said. “That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants… In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens.”