CNN reports: Colombia backs down on accepting deportees on military planes after Trump’s tariffs threats.
Colombia has walked back from the brink of a damaging trade war with the United States, reaching an agreement on accepting deported migrants being returned on military planes, after a flurry of threats from President Donald Trump that included steep tariffs.
Colombia said Sunday evening it had agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms,” including the “unrestricted acceptance” of immigrants who entered the US illegally, after two US military planes carrying deportees were blocked from entering the country.
“We will continue to receive Colombians and Colombian women who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in a televised statement. He added that US deportation flights had resumed, and the Colombian presidential plane was being prepared to assist in repatriating citizens.
For the US’s part,
The White House also backed off its threat to impose tariffs unless Colombia “fails to honor this agreement,” adding other penalties, including visa sanctions and customs inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo ships, will stay in place until the first plane of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
Several thoughts, in no particular order.
- Engaging in executive-level politics over social media is a bad idea. This goes for both Trump and Petro. There would have almost certainly have been no escalation/newsworthy “crisis” without social media to allow the near instantaneous exchange of threats, counter-threats, and insults.
- Of course, from Trump’s POV, it is was useful politics because it makes him look tough.
- The whole thing is ultimately much ado about not very much because, as I noted yesterday, it isn’t as if Colombia had been rejecting repatriation flights. This appears to all have been about using military aircraft and the treatment of Colombian nationals on those flights. The Brazilian government had similar concerns, such as concerns about handcuffs/shackles.
As per CNN:
Brazilian authorities said they found 88 handcuffed deportees on a US flight that mistakenly landed in a different city than its intended destination. Brazilian officials did not authorize the plane to continue on due to “the use of handcuffs and chains, the poor condition of the aircraft, with a faulty air conditioning system, among other problems,” and the migrants were transported to their final destination on a Brazilian Air Force flight.
More here via the AFP: Brazil slams US after dozens of deportees arrive handcuffed
- The Trump administration’s usage of military flights is clearly meant for symbolic purposes, as they have to be more expense and less efficient in general than the chartered flight that had been previously used. I will confess that I am not a logistics experts, so maybe I am missing something, but it struck me as a flex even before the conflict with Colombia arose.
- Trump is a bully, but he seems to mostly want to bully our allies (see, also, Canada and Denmark). Like most bullies, he isn’t such a tough guy when dealing with people who might punch back (see, e.g., Russia).
This will all be spun as a big win for Trump. And it clearly was a win. He got what he wanted in terms of the flights and this will all be seen by the MAGA faithful as an example of his prowess. But, the win is not big. It is actually quite small. I would note that he threatened a trade war to get something that he was going to get in some form or fashion, if not this exact fashion, by just engaging in normal communications with the Colombian government.
