(AFP) – Two military planes sent from Colombia to fetch dozens of its nationals expelled from the United States arrived in Bogota on Tuesday after a blazing row with Donald Trump over migrant deportations. Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted photographs on social media of migrants disembarking without handcuffs, and wrote: “They are Colombians, free and dignified, and in their homeland where they are loved.”
“The migrant is not a criminal but a human being who wants to work and progress, live life,” he added. Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, on Sunday stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States after Trump threatened the country with sanctions and massive tariffs for turning back two US military planes carrying deported migrants. The planes were refused after Petro took umbrage at the treatment meted out to Brazilians expelled from the United States and flown home in handcuffs and shackled at the ankles.
In a break with his predecessors, Trump, inaugurated as US president last week, has also begun using military aircraft. Petro insisted he would only accept migrants who were not treated “like criminals.” Bogota sent two Colombian air force planes Monday with medical staff on board to fetch its nationals in the cities of San Diego and Houston. “We arrived well, thank God,” one of the deportees told Caracol Radio at Bogota’s El Dorado airport after the planes landed at an air base nearby. “We’re not criminals,” added the woman, who recounted her journey via Mexico to reach the United States, only to be arrested for not having immigration papers.
– ‘America is respected again’ –
Petro, a former guerrilla, was the first Latin American leader to defy Trump over his mass deportation plans. But his resistance fizzled in the face of Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Colombian imports — despite the two countries having a free-trade agreement — and the suspension of US visa applications. Petro threatened retaliatory steps before backing down following an outcry at home over what many saw as a hot-headed handling of the dispute.
Trump called off his threatened tariff hikes but said the visa measures would stay in place until the first planeload of deportees returned home. The Republican leader claimed victory Monday, telling a congressional lawmakers’ retreat in Miami that “America is respected again.” Trump insisted that “as you saw yesterday, we’ve made it clear to every country that they will be taking back our people, that we’re sending out the criminals… the illegal aliens coming from their countries.” If nations don’t accept their nationals back “fast,” added Trump, “they’ll pay a very high economic price.”
Trump’s plan for mass migrant deportations has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America — the original home of most of the United States’ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants. Since he took office a week ago, thousands of people have been sent back to countries including Guatemala and Mexico — but in most cases the deportations stemmed from agreements predating his return to power. While previous US administrations also routinely expelled illegal migrants, Trump has vowed the biggest deportation wave in history. Honduras has called for an urgent meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Thursday to discuss migration issues.
© 2024 AFP
