In a significant turn of events, Colombia President Gustavo Petro announced that his presidential plane will be used to repatriate Colombian migrants deported from the US. This decision follows US President Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25% tariff on Colombian goods and additional punitive measures, prompting Petro to comply reluctantly. The development marks an escalation in tensions between the two nations, with both sides introducing retaliatory tariffs.
Trump’s Tariff Pressure Forces Petro’s Shift
Petro’s decision came after Trump announced severe economic sanctions, including a 25% tariff on Colombian imports to the US, with a threat to double the rate within a week. Additionally, Trump implemented a travel ban and visa restrictions targeting Colombian officials, stating these measures were only the beginning of a broader strategy.
Initially, Petro resisted, declaring that Colombia would not accept deportation flights unless the US agreed to protocols ensuring the dignified treatment of migrants. “I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Petro stated.
However, mounting economic pressure forced him to reverse his stance. Petro announced in a statement that the presidential plane would be used to facilitate what he described as a “dignified return” for deported migrants. “The Government of Colombia, under the direction of President Gustavo Petro, has arranged the presidential plane to facilitate the dignified return of compatriots,” read the translated statement, emphasizing Colombia’s commitment to humane treatment.
However, before doing so, Gustavo Petro wrote a long tweet to Trump, in which he criticizes the US for its history of interventionism, exploitation, and racial inequalities. He calls out Trump’s policies, particularly regarding environmental harm, economic tariffs, and perceived disdain for Latin America. Despite this, Petro acknowledges elements of US culture he admires, including figures like Walt WhitmanPaul Simon, Noam Chomsky, and Arthur Miller, as well as the legacy of labor leaders Sacco and Vanzetti.
Petro affirms Colombia’s independence and its role as “the heart of the world,” emphasizing its rich history, cultural heritage, and contributions to global civilization. He reflects on Colombia’s struggle against colonialism and its aspiration for freedom, linking it to figures like BolÃvar and historical events such as the loss of Panama.
Declaring that Colombia will no longer focus solely on the US but instead engage globally, Petro advocates for equality, environmental responsibility, and a rejection of oppressive practices. He frames Colombia as a land of beauty, liberty, and humanity, committed to its values ​​even in the face of adversity.
Read his full statement in English below:
Trump, I don’t really enjoy traveling to the US much; it’s a bit boring. But I admit there are commendable things. I like visiting the Black neighborhoods of Washington. There, I saw a full-blown clash in the capital of the US between Black and Latino communities, with barricades. It seemed nonsensical to me because they should unite.
I confess that I like Walt Whitman, Paul Simon, Noam Chomsky, and Miller.
I confess that Sacco and Vanzetti, who share my blood, are memorable figures in US history. I follow their legacy. They were murdered in the electric chair for being labor leaders, killed by the fascists who exist both in the US and in my own country.
I don’t like your oil, Trump. It’s going to destroy humanity because of greed. Maybe one day, over a glass of whiskey—which I accept despite my gastritis—we can speak frankly about this. But it’s difficult because you consider me part of an inferior race, which I am not, and neither are any Colombians.
If you’re looking for someone stubborn, that’s me, period. With your economic power and arrogance, you might try to stage a coup like the one against Allende. But I stand firm in my beliefs. I resisted torture, and I’ll resist you. I don’t want slaveholders near Colombia; we’ve had too many, and we freed ourselves. What I want for Colombia are lovers of liberty. If you can’t join me in this, I’ll look elsewhere. Colombia is the heart of the world, and you didn’t understand that. This is the land of yellow butterflies, the beauty of Remedios, but also of the colonels like Aureliano BuendÃa, one of whom I might be—the last, perhaps.
You may kill me, but I will survive in my people, who existed before yours, in the Americas. We are peoples of the winds, the mountains, the Caribbean Sea, and freedom.
You don’t like our freedom—fine. I won’t shake hands with white slaveholders. I shake hands with white libertarians, heirs of Lincoln, and with the Black and white farmers of the US. At their graves, I cried and prayed on a battlefield I reached after crossing the mountains of Tuscany in Italy and after surviving COVID.
They are the US, and to them, I bow—not to anyone else.
Knock me down, Mr. President, and the Americas and humanity will respond to you.
Colombia now stops looking northward; it looks to the world. Our blood comes from the caliphate of Córdoba, the civilization of its time, from the Mediterranean Roman Latins who founded the Republic and democracy in Athens. Our blood carries the spirit of enslaved Black resisters brought here by you. Colombia is home to the first free territory in the Americas, before Washington, across all of the Americas. There, I take refuge in their African songs.
My land has artisanship that existed in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs and the first artists of the world in Chiribiquete.
You will never dominate us. We are defended by the warrior who rode through our lands crying for freedom—Bolivar.
Our people are somewhat fearful, somewhat shy, naïve, and kind, but they will know how to reclaim the Panama Canal, which you violently took from us. Two hundred heroes from all over Latin America lie in Bocas del Toro, present-day Panama but once Colombia, murdered by you.
I raise a flag, and as Gaitán once said, even if I stand alone, it will remain aloft, with the dignity of Latin America, which is the dignity of the Americas—something your ancestor didn’t understand but mine did, Mr. President, an immigrant to the US.
Your blockade doesn’t scare me because Colombia, besides being the land of beauty, is the heart of the world. I know you love beauty as much as I do. Don’t disrespect it, and it will show you its sweetness.
FROM TODAY, COLOMBIA OPENS ITSELF TO THE WORLD, WITH OPEN ARMS. WE ARE BUILDERS OF FREEDOM, LIFE, AND HUMANITY.
I am informed that you impose a 50% tariff on the fruits of our labor entering the US. I will do the same.
Let our people sow maize, which was discovered in Colombia, and feed the world.
