The Latin American presidents will hold an emergency summit on Thursday to react to the mass deportation of migrants of President Donald Trump, while they come back from his aggressive tactics to two of the traditional regional allies in Washington.
Trump clamped 25 percent tariffs with the trade Colombia And imposed visa and other sanctions on Sunday, after the left President Gustavo Petro had turned back the US military flights, deported the migrants. The Confrontation ended Within a few hours after Bogotá had complied with the claims in Washington.
The dramatic collision, which was led much over social media, unsettles the Latin American nations, who had already had military violence because of Trump’s threats to restore US control over the Panama Canal and steep tariffs on Mexico, the largest trading partner in the USA.
“There is a lot of alarm among the Latin American messages in Washington,” said a high -ranking regional diplomat in Washington. “We seem to have gone back to 1897 and the era of the President (William) McKinley, the Cuba and the Philippines entered.”
The currencies of the emerging market were folded up to the dispute on Sunday, with the Mexican peso and the South African border against the US dollar fell about two percent. Colombia’s peso fell by $ 1.5 percent against the dollar on Monday morning before recovering a little soil.
Panama, a nation of only 4.5 million people without the army and a strong dependence on US trade and investments, is considered particularly susceptible to Trump’s demands In order for Washington to take control of the channel, which it built more than a century ago. The US President claims that China is now operating the channel and the US shipping is “demolished” by the fees for the use of the waterway.
After a request from Petro, Honduran President Xiomara Castro described an emergency summit by the region as head of the community of Latin American and Caribbean states (Celac). The meeting will discuss migration, the environment and regional unit, she said on X.
Michael Shifter, a senior fellow in the Inter-American Dialogue Denkfabrik in Washington, said that the Latin American leaders Trump probably couldn’t move.
“You will try to make a balance,” he said, “recognize that on the one hand you have to be pragmatic because Trump can actually impose sanctions, which would be very painful for these countries. On the other hand, you also have to save your face and show that you have national pride and protect sovereignty. “
Russian allies Cuba and Venezuela gave Petro, a former guerrilla with a long recording of loops against Petro, a quick deficit US policy On social media in topics ranging from Gaza to war against drugs. But the largest powers in the region, Brazil and Mexico, were not publicly expressed.
Diplomats said that they wanted to coordinate the positions discreetly and settle the dust before taking a public attitude.
“Petro has given an apprenticeship about how to deal with Trump,” said a second regional diplomat. “He went into battle on social media without having a way to maintain his struggle.”
Several commentators pointed out that the Colombian leader had undermined his own position by agreed to measure us military flights, deporting migrants, decorating years under democratic and republican administrations.
Colombia, traditionally the closest US ally in South America, is heavily dependent on the US market for its exports of oil, coffee and cut flowers and has little influence with Washington.
The timing was also cumbersome when Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo-a pragmatic English spokesman and ex-mamlsador in Washington-Am 1st February 1st by Laura Sarabia, Petros 30-year-old, is to be replaced who has no diplomatic chief of staff.
Unclear with Petro’s whereabouts on Sunday, a team of crisis from Sarabia, Murillo and other officials met in the presidential palace and at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry. The main conversation partner on the US side was Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump’s special representative for Latin America in the Foreign Ministry. “Petro was in constant communication, always listened and answered,” said a person with direct knowledge of the talks.
Bruce Mac Master, President of the Colombia’s main business association, spent the day with the diplomatic team of Petro and spoke to Sarabia several times.
“I think Petro had no idea about the dimensions and effects of the US relationships,” said Mac Master. “He soon realized that the effects could be felt everywhere, starting with the exchange rate. I think he has learned more about economics than in the rest of his life. “
In contrast, the Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in the region was better handled with Trump. She has made it clear with the US policy in measured public comments, while she approved many of Trump’s demands to withdraw migrants and to withdraw fentanyl trade privately.
China has greatly expanded its trade and investments in Latin America this century, and Beijing will probably see Trump’s unpredictable movements as an ideal opportunity to present themselves as a more reliable partner, said diplomats and analysts.
Shifter of the Inter -American dialogue said: “Celac is the platform for China in Latin America. Therefore, the summit on Thursday is a kind of deputy to show (Washington) that China is ready to fill the gap and come even more than already. “
Additional reporting from Tommy Stubbington in London
