On Jan. 26Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he would refuse to receive Colombian migrants deported from the United States, stating that their transfer did not respect the dignity of the detainees and that they had suffered inhumane treatment: “The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants like criminals. … The U.S. should establish a protocol of dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”

In response, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that he rejected Petro’s measure as an attack against the security of the United States and that he would impose several retaliatory measures against Colombia. They included an emergency 25% tariff on Colombian goods, which will be raised to 50% in a week, a travel ban and revocations of visas of all Colombian government officials as well as “allies and supporters,” and visa sanctions on party members, family members and supporters of the Colombian government.

The tit-for-tat continued, with Petro stating that he would request all U.S. citizens in Colombia to regularize their immigration status and would also increase tariffs on U.S. products equivalent to those imposed by the Trump administration on Colombian products.

Brazil also rejects the treatment of migrants

Petro’s stand against Trump was likely in response to an incident which took place on two days earlier in Manaus, Brazil, when a deportation flight landed for a technical stop on its way to Belo Horizonte. Brazilian authorities witnessed 88 Brazilian nationals being led off the plane in handcuffs and their ankles chained together.

“The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants like criminals.”

Minister of Justice and Public Safety Ricardo Lewandowski quickly ordered the Federal Police in Manaus to receive the deportees, take off their handcuffs and use a Brazilian Air Force plane to transport them to Belo Horizonte. Some of the Brazilians aboard the flight complained that they had been restrained for the entire flight, were not allowed to use the bathroom and that the plane did not have air circulating.

Following this incident, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “The indiscriminate use of handcuffs and chains violates the terms of the agreement with the U.S., which provides for dignified, respectful and humane treatment of returnees.”

The statement said that the conditions agreed to with the U.S. government were not respected. Brazil agreed in 2018 to carry out repatriation flights to shorten the time these nationals spend in U.S. detention centers, due to irregular immigration and with no possibility of appeal. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send a request for clarification to the U.S. government and will keep a close eye on changes in migration policies in that country, to guarantee the protection, safety and dignity of Brazilians living there.”

An apparent truce

Later Sunday, the tensions with Colombia began to dissipate. The Colombian Foreign Ministry stated that “the impasse with the Government of the United States had been overcome. … We will continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees, guaranteeing them dignified conditions, as citizens subject to the law.”

In addition, they said that Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo and Ambassador Daniel García Peña will travel to Washington D.C. to follow up on the agreements.

According to the Colombian government’s statement, it can be assumed that part of the agreement consists of the U.S. authorities committing to better treatment of deported Colombian migrants.

Despite this, the White House said that Colombia had accepted all of Washington’s conditions on Colombian migrants: “The government of Colombia has agreed to all President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”

Both countries announced that the economic measures taken in retaliation have been repealed.

A diplomatic impasse that heralds geopolitical challenges

Although it might seem that the diplomatic difficulties are over, Trump’s mass deportation will continue to provoke tensions between Latin American countries and Washington, especially due to the large volume of Latin American workers who will be returned to their countries and the possible mistreatment which they may be subjected to, as the presidents of Colombia and Brazil have complained.

“We will continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees.”

Because of this, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) called for an “urgent” meeting on Jan. 30 to discuss the challenges posed by the U.S. deportation actions. Honduran President Xiomara Castro, current president pro-tempore of CELAC, said that the meeting will address issues concerning “migration, environment and Latin American and Caribbean unity.”

The Trump administration inaugurates its term with a strained relationship with several Latin American leftist and progressive governments, whether through the incorporation of Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism (Biden had removed Cuba from the list a few days before Trump’s inauguration), the threat of “retaking” the administration of the Panama Canal, or the ever-present possibility of imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on governments that do not agree with its actions.

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