On Sunday, tensions escalated between President Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro after the latter refused to accept deportation flights on U.S. military planes. Although the Colombian government routinely receives deportation flights from the U.S., it seems that the decision came after it was reported that migrants on similar flights to other countries in the region were handcuffed and forced to endure inhumane conditions.
Trump did not respond kindly to the Colombian government’s refusal. He took to his social media site Truth Social to deride Petro as a “socialist” who is “unpopular amongst his people” stating that the refusal constituted a “national security threat.” He said he would retaliate by sanctioning members of the Colombian government and imposing a 25 percent tariff on goods from Colombia, which is one of the America’s largest trading partners in the region. The White House quickly released an official statement in which “Colombia” was misspelled as “Columbia.”
Petro proved to be a formidable adversary for Trump’s social media battle, responding with posts on X deriding the inhumane conditions that migrants faced on deportation flights and announcing that he would also put tariffs on goods coming from the U.S. In one particularly long post, worthy of a García Márquez novel, Petro said that while he finds traveling to the U.S. boring, he does like American writers like Walt Whitman and admires the history of the American working class, but will quit looking toward the north and open up to the rest of the world.
On Sunday night, an agreement seems to have been reached between the Trump administration and Colombia that would lift the proposed sanctions and tariffs in exchange for resuming deportation flights between the two countries, leading both sides to release statements claiming victory. But the spat reveals some issues that the administration will continue to face when implementing its “America First” foreign policy in Latin America.
By treating the countries of the region as if they were still banana republics that would bend over backward to fulfill the U.S. government’s wishes, Trump gravely underestimates their power as a united bloc. According to the United Nations, the region constitutes 21.3 percent of U.S. foreign trade, equal to over $1 trillion. That is not a small number. If the region consciously decided to look towards other trading partners, the U.S. economy would feel the effects, and not just in coffee prices.
Trump’s saber-rattling with Mexico, Colombia and Panama will most likely lead these countries to fortify their relationships with China and Russia. Brazil, the giant of Latin America, is a founding member of the BRICS alliance and has shown that it is possible to successfully break free from U.S. economic dependency. Before Trump’s inauguration, Colombian officials were already looking at ways to join that alliance, and now there is an even greater sense of urgency.
Last week, the State Department announced it would be freezing foreign aid, including support for crucial programs to tackle the root causes of regional migration, poverty and violence. These cuts will only exacerbate the region’s migration crisis. Trump’s rhetoric alienates Panama and Colombia, whose cooperation is needed to fulfill his migration policy in the Darien Gap. Petro’s recent statement that Colombia is open to the world could have effects beyond promoting the country’s natural beauty.
Suppose Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were serious about stemming the flow of migrants from Latin America. In that case, they might want to support more leaders like Petro, who lifted 1.6 million Colombians out of poverty through substantial investment in social programs in 2023. They might want to support Petro’s efforts to stop drug trafficking through traditional enforcement mechanisms and a policy of peace that seeks to demobilize the country’s armed groups through negotiation. They might want to listen to Petro on how they can peacefully solve the political crisis in Venezuela and fortify regional cooperation on human rights.
Trump and Rubio need to accept that Latin America will not put up with a new Monroe Doctrine. They must treat the region’s countries as equals, because they are sovereign nations, not banana republics. If they don’t accept those facts, Latin America will move further towards China’s embrace, and the Trump administration will lose the ability to ensure that the region’s countries cooperate with their immigration plans.
If Rubio does not change course, he will go down in history not only as the first secretary of state of Latin American descent but as the one who pushed Latin America away from the U.S.
Cruz Bonlarron Martínez was a Fulbright Fellow in Colombia from 2021 to 2022. His writing on politics, human rights and culture in Latin America and the Latin American diaspora has appeared in various U.S. and international publications.
