Donald Trump and the eternal strategy of the balance of power. Invested a week ago, the new American president decided to hit hard on the issue of immigration in the United States. In recent days, the White House has repatriated hundreds of migrants from Latin American countries by military planes. Operations that the American authorities do not fail to stage. On January 23, the images of several migrants from Guatemala, placed in single file on the tarmac of Fort Bliss airport (Texas), were widely relayed by those in power as the symbol of the expulsions promised by Donald Trump throughout his campaign.
Sunday January 26, the billionaire’s strategy almost turned into a diplomatic crisis with Colombia. The left-wing Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, has in fact refused the arrival of American planes returning illegal migrants to Colombian soil. “A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” said the leader, in a message published on the social network in a country that does not want them, but if this country sends them back, it must be with dignity and respect for them and for our country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, close to President Trump, had earlier declared that Gustavo Petro had initially accepted these repatriations, then “canceled his authorization when the planes were in flight”.
Threat of pharaonic customs duties
Faced with the refusal of the Colombian authorities, Donald Trump’s reprisals were not long in coming. On Sunday, Washington notably threatened to impose customs duties of 25% on all Colombian goods entering the United States. A measure, which, without progress, was to be increased to 50% in a week, according to the Republican president, despite the free trade agreement between the two countries. Another threat raised by the Trump camp: a ban on entry into the United States and a revocation of visas for Colombian government officials, its allies and supporters. “Reinforced inspections” at entry for all Colombian nationals and goods coming from this country would also be put in place.
Confident of his strike force, the American president provided after-sales service for these decisions on his communication channels. “These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations regarding the reception and return of criminals it forced into the United States!”, wrote Donald Trump on his Truth Social network. In response, Gustavo Petro then promised to “raise” customs duties on imports from the United States to 25%.
But the prospect of economic sanctions finally made the Colombian leader relent in just a few hours. The United States is one of the main markets for Colombia, which exports quantities of oil and coffee there. A quarter of its exported products are sold on American soil. Conversely, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, US exports to this Latin American country represent only less than 1% of their total transactions to foreign countries. If the increase in customs duties could also have caused an increase in the price of Colombian products for American consumers, the balance of commercial power between the two countries was in fact largely unfavorable to Colombia.
Tensions with Brazil
The American president, who never ceases to want to negotiate better “deals”, including with his partners, therefore did not hesitate to act brutally to force Bogota to bend. What finally happened, which the White House welcomed in a statement released Sunday evening: “The Colombian government has accepted all of President Trump’s conditions, 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.” Colombia, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Gilberto Murillo, for its part assured that the “impasse” with the United States had been “overcome”.
Many countries in South and Central America are concerned about the migration policy now led by the Americans. Brazil also denounced on Saturday the “degrading treatment” of illegal Brazilian migrants expelled by the United States, aboard a flight that arrived the day before in Manaus, in the Amazon, in the north of the country. According to Brasilia, 88 of its nationals were on the plane. On board, “they didn’t give us water, we were tied hand and foot, and they didn’t even let us go to the toilet,” explained Edgar Da Silva Moura, one of the passengers on this flight, according to reports. comments reported by AFP. The President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, for her part, called on Sunday for an “urgent” meeting of presidents and heads of state of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on January 30 to discuss the issue migratory.