Gustavo Petro said on X that the United States should not treat Colombian migrants as criminals and that he had already turned away U.S. military flights carrying deportees.
Colombia refused to accept military deportation flights from the United States, setting off a furious reaction from President Trump, who on Sunday announced a barrage of tariffs and sanctions targeting the country, which has long been a top U.S. ally in Latin America.
The United States will immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian imports, and will raise them to 50 percent in one week, Mr. Trump said on social media.
The Trump administration will also “fully impose” banking and financial sanctions against Colombia, and will apply a travel ban and revoke visas of Colombian government officials, the president said.
The move reflects how Mr. Trump is making an example out of Colombia as countries around the world are grappling with how to prepare for the mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants that he has threatened.
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, said earlier Sunday in a series of social media posts that Colombia would not accept military deportation flights from the United States until the Trump administration provided a process to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect.”
Mr. Petro also said that Colombia had already turned away military planes carrying Colombian deportees. While other countries in Latin America have raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s sweeping deportation plans, Colombia appears to be among the first to explicitly refuse to cooperate.