Colombia’s Petro Backs Down: Sending Personal Plane to Pick Up Migrants After Trump Announced Sanctions
Colombian President Gustavo Petro backed down on his declaration that he would not accept deportation flights from the United States. He now says he will send his presidential plane to personally pick up the deported migrants, a U.S. official with knowledge on the matter told Breitbart News.
The Colombian president’s backpedaling came after President Donald Trump announced he would impose numerous sanctions—including “emergency 25% tariffs”—on Colombia in response to Petro’s reversal of his promise to accept deportation flights.
On Sunday, Petro — who initially said he would accept deportation flights from the U.S. but then refused to receive two flights containing a total of 160 deportable migrants — suggested he changed his mind about accepting the flights because the U.S. treats “Colombian migrants as criminals.”
Petro then demanded the United States “establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
President Trump responded to the matter in a Sunday Truth Social post, declaring, “I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia.”
“This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” Trump continued. “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
President Trump went on to reveal that in response to this, he directed his administration “to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures:”
-Emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States. In one week, the 25% tariffs will be raised to 50%.
-A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.
-Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.
-Enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo on national security grounds.
-IEEPA Treasury, Banking and Financial Sanctions to be fully imposed.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump added. “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!”
Additionally, a U.S. official told Breitbart News on Sunday that the U.S. Embassy in Colombia is set to close on Monday, following Petro’s reversing his promise to accept the deportation flights.
On Sunday, the Colombian government released a follow-up statement confirming its “participation in the extraordinary assembly of the community of Latin American and Caribbean states, convened for January 30.”
“This meeting will be an opportunity to address strategic issues for the region, such as cooperation on migration, the protection of human rights, and the strengthening of relations between member countries,” the statement added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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