(Files to add the word “ban” projected in paragraph 1)
Written by Phil Stewart and Oliver Griffin
WASHINGTON/Bogota (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would impose retaliatory measures on Colombia that include customs duties, sanctions and a travel ban after the South American country refused to receive two American military planes carrying migrants as part of Trump’s campaign against immigration.
Trump said that the action taken by the Colombian President Gustavo Petro endangered US national security, and ordered his administration to take revenge measures.
It includes the imposition of 25% emergency customs tariffs on all commodities coming to the United States, which is expected to rise to 50% within one week; And the ban on travel and the abolition of visas on the Colombian government officials and its allies; Imposing emergency penalties on the treasury and banking and financial penalties completely and enhance the border inspections of Colombian citizens.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations regarding the acceptance and return of criminals who forced them to enter the United States!”
Colombia’s refusal to accept flights is the second case of a country in Latin America that rejects US military deportations.
Petro condemned this practice, noting that she treated migrants like criminals. In a post on the social media platform X, Petro said that Colombia will welcome the migrants deported to their homeland on civilian aircraft, saying they should be treated with dignity and respect.
Colombia’s decision came in the wake of a decision made by Mexico, which also rejected a request last week to allow an American military plane to land on immigrants.
“The United States cannot treat Colombian immigrants as criminals,” Petro wrote, noting that there are 15,660 Americans who do not have a suitable migration position in Colombia.
Petro’s comments are added to the growing discontent choir in Latin America with the start of the Trump administration, which has a week -long packing for mass deportations.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned late on Saturday evening the “degrading treatment” that the Brazilians are exposed to after teaching migrants on a commercial deportation trip. Upon their arrival, some passengers also reported abuse during the trip, according to local news reports.
The plane, which was carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 American security men and eight of the crew, was already scheduled to arrive at Billo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, southeast of the country.
The government said in a statement on Saturday that the Brazilian officials had ordered the removal of the handcuffs, and President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva allocated a Brazilian Air Force flight to complete its flight.
The rented trade trip was the second this year of the United States, which is carrying illegal immigrants who have been deported to Brazil and the first since Trump’s inauguration, according to the Brazilian federal police.
Officials from the US State Department, the Pentagon, the US Internal Security Ministry, the American Immigration and Customs Administration immediately wanted to request requests.
The use of US military aircraft to carry out deportations is part of the Pentagon’s response to the Trump’s national emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.
In the past, US military aircraft were used to transport individuals from one country to another, as happened during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A US official said this is the first time in the modern memory that US military aircraft have been used to transport migrants by air outside the country.
US military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each carrying about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday.
