Saturday, February 1, 2025 -South American nation, Colombia has offered to pay for the “dignified” deportation of its citizens from the United States, the foreign ministry said Friday, January 31, just a week after a public spat between presidents Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump over the removal of illegal migrants.
The two
leaders had issued threats and counter threats of major trade tariffs of up to
50 percent, and Washington’s embassy in Bogota stopped issuing visas from
Monday to Friday in retaliation for Petro’s refusal to allow US military planes
to return Colombian migrants to their country.
Petro
accused the United States of treating the migrants like criminals, placing them
in shackles and handcuffs.
However,
in a sign of bowing to Trump's demands, Colombia’s foreign ministry said Friday
it had proposed to Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump’s special envoy for Latin
America, that Bogota would “immediately assume the transfer of all citizens
deported by the United States,” covering transportation costs for its
nationals, according to a statement.
Petro has
said his government would not allow expelled migrants to travel in handcuffs
and on Tuesday and Wednesday, Colombian military and civilian aircraft
repatriated the first groups of migrants to Bogota.
According
to Petro, hundreds of Colombians, including several children, were returned to
their country in “dignified” conditions. None of them were “confirmed
criminals,” he added.
Colombia
is expecting the return of around 27,000 migrants whose deportation orders have
been signed in the last six months by the Trump administration or that of his
Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, a Colombian presidential source told AFP.
Trump has
pledged to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history, vowing to
expel millions of undocumented immigrants, many from Latin American
nations.
The United
States is Colombia’s largest trade partner and it has provided millions of
dollars in aid over decades to fight drug trafficking and terrorism.
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