The Colombian President, soon on Sunday, announced that he had turned two US military aircraft deported from the United States and issued an extraordinary crisis inside and outside his country as he angered President Trump and caught his own inner circle outside the guard.
President Gustav Petro’s friends – and even his strongest political adversary, former President of Álvara Urebe – quickly jumped in and worked in Washington to help destroy the crisis that threatened to destroy the Colombian economy and increase relations in the region.
Later on Sunday, after a moment when the brink of disintegration appeared tense discussions between the two countries, the White House announced that the Colombian government agreed to receive all deportation flights, including military aircraft. The Colombian Foreign Ministry soon stated that the “dead end” was surpassed.
“Despite the difficulties we had, it is proof that diplomatic channels continue to be the best way to solve the differences,” said Colombian ambassador in the United States Daniel Garcia-Peña, who was in the capital of Bogot on Sunday.
He was part of a small group that managed Mr. Petro on one line for several hours and Trump’s administration, through his special envoy to Latin America, Mauritio Claver-Carone, on another.
On Monday, Mr. García-Peña said he hoped that “US-Kolumbie’s relationship could not only continue in this new administration,” but to flourish. But on Sunday this prospect seemed far away.
For many of them, the day began around 4 am, when their phones were constantly ringing. Mr. Petro had just has published a report on social media.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as a criminal,” he said, announcing that he was withdrawing US military aircraft to land in Colombia.
At 9:30, Mr. Petro said He turned the military aircraft back. (Trump’s administration said two military flights were forced to return to the United States.)
The tension stood up during the day.
Mr. Trump retaliated saying He hit Colombia by 25 percent of tariffs and rose to 50 percent within a few days and with a number of financial and banking sanctions. He also suspended visas for all government officials and their colleagues. “These measures are just the beginning,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Petro replied by saying he would also impose sanctions on the United States. “You’ll never control us,” he said.
Colombian recently appointed Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia, Called “calm”.
Gustavo Bolivar, who manages the Social Services programs for Petro Administration, said that the President had succeeded that Mr. Trump’s retaliation to him. Mr. Bolivar shared his concerns that economic sanctions would damage Colombian companies, he said.
At least three former presidents, including Mr. Uribe, a right -wing leader who has long been in violation of Mr. Petro, also helped navigate the storm. One clerk with knowledge of the event said Mr. Uribe called Mrs. Sarabia and basically said: We have differences with President Petro. Made a mistake. But we have to solve it. How can I help?
Mrs. Sarabia urged Mr. Uribe to call his friends in Washington, including the new state Minister Marco Rubia.
Accounts on some discussions within Petro As Trump’s government are partially based on interviews with the government official Mr. Petro and the outgoing high -ranking official. Both officials asked for anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
According to two officials, Republican senators in the United States also considered and urged Trump’s administration to prove restrictions.
In Colombia, Mr. Petro’s inner circle members warned that US sanctions could cause widespread country damage. The United States is the largest business partner in Colombia with key industries such as oil, coffee and flowers dependent on the US market.
Mr. Petro, a former rebel and left -wing left -wing, is facing significant challenges, including the eruption of violence near the Venezuelan border, including a rebel group. There is a risk of breaking up its promise to bring permanent peace to a country that has decades of conflicts.
Mr. Petros’s confrontation with Trump’s administration and rapid will from the newly sworn president came when Latin American governments seek to respond to US pressure to cooperate with measures to reduce migration, including accelerated deportations. At the same time, they try to reassure their citizens to protect their rights.
Mr. Petro announced that after reports from Brazil at the weekend, he showed military deportation flights that 88 people on a flight from the United States, including some families, tolerated conditions that the Brazilian government called “unacceptable” and “humiliating”. The deported arrived at the non -military level that did not work and performed an emergency landing in Manaus, a city in the Amazon rainforest.
Luis Gilberto Murillo, outgoing Foreign Minister in Colombia, who was closely involved in negotiations with the US government on Sunday, said Mr. Petro had two reasons for blocking US flights. “The first and most important,” he said, “was the dignified treatment of the Colombians. He disagrees that people are in handcuffs for these years. ”
The second problem was the use of military aircraft, he said.
Mr. Petro was not fully aware of the recent change in Trump’s administration, which allows the use of a military aircraft for deportations, said Mr. Murillo. In the past, deported migrants were transported on aircraft that resemble commercial vessels and are operated by American immigration and customs enforcement.
Mr García-Peña said that Colombian officials retreated on Sunday when American officials assured them that Colombians on board deportation flights would not be placed in a bond after they were returned and accompanied by ministry officials, not military staff.
They were also told that Colombian citizens would not be photographed on board flights, he said.
Press Secretary of Mr. Trump shared images Last week of people in pilgrims led by military aircraft. “President Trump sends a strong and clear news: if you illegally enter the United States, you will face serious consequences,” she wrote.
Mr. Trump described deported as “criminals”.
The use of military aircraft to transport people excluded from the United States, which Mr. Trump allowed through the Executive Code, proved to be a key part of fulfilling the promise of the campaign for extensive deportations. However, Trump’s administration also explained that without the consent of the country’s consent, it was not sending military aircraft.
Reigning Minister of Defense, Robert Saleless, said Military aircraft would be used to transport more than 5,000 people in custody of an American border patrol.
Two military aircraft arrived on Friday In Guatemala they carry 160 migrants who were arrested after crossing the border, including women and children.
Several Latin American governments have expressed concern about the treatment of migrants who are now deported. “This flight has become a violation of rights,” said Macaé Evaristo, Brazilian Minister of Human Rights, hours before Mr. Petro’s performance.
Honduras also has has caused the need To protect his citizens and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, he said, “What do we ask? Respect for human rights. ”
Experts say that Mr. Trump’s severe reaction to Mr. Petro can have a cold effect on other leaders in the region when he weighs his own actions.
Mr. Trump’s rapid threat to store the main tariffs on Colombia, which was the historically strongest ally of the United States in the region, signals that its migration agenda will be the highest priority in diplomatic relations in the hemisphere, said Will Freeman, member of the Latin study in the Council for Foreign Relations.
“The previous administration, which has seen that as one of the other will probably go much more carefully with Colombia,” said Mr. Freeman. “But I think the fact that Trump does it really shows that he considers it his priority no. 1.”
For the time being, Colombia seems to be intended to avoid further struggle with the United States.
“We will have clear protocols to prevent it from happening again,” said Mr. Murillo, outgoing Foreign Minister.
Trump’s administration was clearly satisfied with the result of its short if intense dispute with Colombia. “America is respected again,” he said.
While Colombia stood to lose more than the United States, if both countries imposed tariffs, they claim that the alienation of Colombia, an important contribution to American business, could push it closer to China, its second largest business partner producing Inroads across Latin America.
As Mr. Trump and Mr. Petro, the Chinese Ambassador in Colombia escaped on Sunday said on social media that both countries “are at the best moment of our diplomatic relationships”.
In the middle, Colombian deported Colombian deported were in the air on their way back to Colombia. Some said to come to Colombia on Monday evening in the Colombian government aircraft.
Mr. Petro was Still publishes his views.
“The solution of illegal migration,” he wrote, “It is not easy to deport people and criminalize them.
The report contributed Jorge Valencia From Bogotá. Federico rios from Medellin and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega from Mexico City.