Colombia’s president, early on Sunday, introduced that he had turned again two American navy planes carrying deportees from the US, setting off a rare disaster inside and out of doors his nation as he infuriated President Trump and caught even his personal internal circle off guard.
President Gustavo Petro’s buddies — and even his strongest political adversary, former President Álvaro Uribe — rapidly jumped in, working contacts in Washington to assist defuse a disaster that threatened to devastate Colombia’s economic system and upend relations within the area.
Late on Sunday, after moments when the tense discussions between the 2 international locations appeared on the verge of breaking down, the White Home introduced that the Colombian authorities had agreed to obtain all deportation flights, together with navy planes. The Colombian Overseas Ministry quickly mentioned “the deadlock” had been overcome.
“Regardless of the difficulties we had, it’s proof that diplomatic channels proceed to be one of the best ways to type out variations,” mentioned Colombia’s ambassador to the US, Daniel García-Peña, who was in Bogotá, the capital, on Sunday.
He was a part of a small group that for a number of hours managed Mr. Petro on one line and the Trump administration, by means of its particular envoy to Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, on one other.
On Monday, Mr. García-Peña mentioned he hoped the “U.S.-Colombia relationship can not solely proceed all through this new administration” however flourish. However on Sunday, that prospect appeared far off.
For a lot of of these concerned, the day started round 4 a.m. with their telephones ringing continually. Mr. Petro had simply posted a message on social media.
“The U.S. can not deal with Colombian migrants like criminals,” he mentioned, asserting that he was withdrawing authorization for U.S. navy planes to land in Colombia.
At 9:30 a.m., Mr. Petro said he had turned navy planes again. (The Trump administration mentioned two navy flights had been pressured to return to the US.)
The tensions constructed over the day.
Mr. Trump retaliated by saying he would hit Colombia with 25 % tariffs, rising to 50 % inside days, in addition to a raft of economic and banking sanctions. He additionally suspended visas for all authorities officers and their associates. “These measures are just the start,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Petro responded by saying he would impose sanctions on the US, too. “You’ll by no means dominate us,” he declared.
Colombia’s not too long ago appointed overseas minister, Laura Sarabia, called for “calm.”
Gustavo Bolívar, who directs social companies applications for the Petro administration, mentioned the president reached out to him after Mr. Trump’s retaliatory strikes. Mr. Bolivar shared his issues that financial sanctions would hurt Colombian companies, he mentioned.
At the very least three former presidents, together with Mr. Uribe, a right-wing chief who has lengthy been at odds with Mr. Petro, additionally supplied to assist navigate the storm. One official with information of the occasions mentioned that Mr. Uribe had referred to as Ms. Sarabia and mentioned, basically: We’ve variations with President Petro. He made a mistake. However we have to resolve this. How can I assist?
Ms. Sarabia urged Mr. Uribe to name his buddies in Washington, together with the brand new secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
The accounts of a few of the discussions inside the Petro authorities and with the Trump administration are primarily based partially on interviews with an official in Mr. Petro’s authorities and with a departing high-ranking official. The 2 officers requested anonymity to explain delicate discussions.
Republican senators in the US additionally weighed in, urging the Trump administration to point out restraint, in line with the 2 officers.
In Colombia, members of Mr. Petro’s internal circle warned that American sanctions may trigger widespread injury to the nation. The US is Colombia’s largest buying and selling companion, with key industries like oil, espresso and flowers reliant on the U.S. market.
Mr. Petro, a former insurgent and avowed leftist, is already going through vital challenges, together with an eruption of violence close to the Venezuelan border involving a insurgent group. The unrest is threatening to unravel his promise of bringing lasting peace to a rustic that has identified a long time of battle.
Mr. Petro’s confrontation with the Trump administration, and the immediate backlash from the newly sworn-in president, got here as Latin American governments are struggling to answer American strain to cooperate with measures to curb migration, together with stepped-up deportations. On the identical time, they’re making an attempt to guarantee their residents that they are going to shield their rights.
Mr. Petro introduced that he was barring navy deportation flights after experiences from Brazil over the weekend that 88 folks on a flight from the US, together with some households, had endured circumstances that the Brazilian authorities described as “unacceptable” and “degrading.” The deportees had arrived on a nonmilitary airplane that malfunctioned and made an emergency touchdown in Manaus, a metropolis within the Amazon rainforest.
Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s outgoing overseas minister, who was intently concerned within the negotiations with the U.S. authorities on Sunday, mentioned in an interview that Mr. Petro had two causes for blocking the U.S. flights. “The primary and most necessary,” he mentioned, “was the dignified therapy of Colombians. He doesn’t agree with folks being in handcuffs on these flights.”
The opposite situation was the usage of navy planes, he mentioned.
Mr. Petro was not totally conscious of a current change underneath the Trump administration that enables navy plane for use for deportations, Mr. Murillo mentioned. Up to now, migrants being deported have been transported on planes that resemble business craft and are operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mr. García-Peña mentioned Colombian officers relented on Sunday when U.S. officers assured them that Colombians aboard deportation flights wouldn’t be positioned in handcuffs after they had been returned and could be escorted by Division of Homeland Safety officers, not navy personnel.
They had been additionally advised Colombian residents wouldn’t be photographed aboard the flights, he mentioned.
Mr. Trump’s press secretary shared images final week of individuals in shackles being led onto navy planes. “President Trump is sending a powerful and clear message to your entire world: for those who illegally enter the US of America, you’ll face extreme penalties,” she wrote.
Mr. Trump described the deportees as “criminals.”
The usage of navy planes to move folks expelled from the US, which Mr. Trump approved by means of an govt order, has emerged as a key a part of fulfilling a marketing campaign promise to hold out sweeping deportations. However the Trump administration has additionally made clear that it could not dispatch navy planes with out the approval of the receiving nation.
The performing protection secretary, Robert Salesses, said navy planes could be used to move greater than 5,000 folks within the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.
Two navy planes arrived on Friday in Guatemala, carrying 160 migrants who had been apprehended after crossing the border, together with ladies and kids.
A number of Latin American governments have expressed concern over the therapy of migrants being deported now. “What occurred on this flight was a violation of rights,” mentioned Macaé Evaristo, Brazil’s minister of human rights, hours earlier than Mr. Petro spoke out.
Honduras has additionally invoked the need to guard its residents and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, mentioned: “What will we ask for? Respect for human rights.”
Consultants say Mr. Trump’s hard-line response to Mr. Petro might have a chilling impact on different leaders within the area as they weigh their very own actions.
Mr. Trump’s swift risk to impose main tariffs on Colombia, which has traditionally been the strongest United States ally within the area, alerts that his migration agenda would be the high precedence in diplomatic relationships within the hemisphere, mentioned Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America research on the Council on Overseas Relations.
“A earlier administration that noticed that as one concern amongst others would in all probability be strolling rather more rigorously now with Colombia,” mentioned Mr. Freeman. “However I feel the truth that Trump is doing this actually reveals that he sees it as his No. 1 precedence.”
For now, Colombia appears intent on avoiding one other combat with the US.
“We can have clear protocols, in order that this doesn’t occur once more,” mentioned Mr. Murillo, the outgoing overseas minister.
The Trump administration was clearly happy with the end result of its temporary if intense feud with Colombia. “America is revered once more,” it mentioned.
Whereas Colombia stood to lose greater than the US if tariffs had been imposed by each international locations, consultants say that alienating Colombia, an necessary asset for American enterprise, may push it nearer to China, its second-largest buying and selling companion, which is making inroads throughout Latin America.
As Mr. Trump and Mr. Petro’s feud escalated on Sunday, China’s ambassador to Colombia said on social media that the 2 international locations “are in the perfect second of our diplomatic relations.”
Caught within the center had been the Colombian deportees who had been within the air on their technique to Colombia when Mr. Petro turned the navy planes again. Some had been mentioned to be arriving in Colombia as early as Monday night time on a Colombian authorities airplane.
Mr. Petro was still posting his opinions.
“The answer to unlawful migration,” he wrote, “isn’t merely to deport folks and criminalize them.”
Reporting was contributed by Jorge Valencia from Bogotá. Federico Rios from Medellín and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega from Mexico Metropolis.
