Colombia will not accept the US deportation flight, says President Petro

Colombia will not accept deportation flights from the United States unless the Trump administration provides ways to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect,” the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, said on Sunday in in the X series.

Mr. Petro also said that Colombia has turned away the military planes carrying the exiled Colombians. While other Latin American countries have raised concerns about President Trump’s deportation plan, Colombia seems to be the first to clearly refuse to cooperate.

“I cannot keep immigrants in a country that does not need them,” Mr. Petro wrote, “but if that country sends them back, it should be with dignity and respect for them and our country.” that.”

Mr. Petro’s stance may bring him into conflict with Mr. Trump, who started last Monday issued a series of executive orders and took other actions aimed at laying the groundwork to try to deport large numbers of immigrants.

The US Embassy in Bogotá did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Among other things, Mr. Petro said he was willing to allow civilian planes carrying the exiles to land in Colombia, but not military planes. “Immigrants are not criminals,” he wrote in X.

He did not give details about when or how many military planes and migrants were expelled.

It is unclear whether Colombia can legally deport its citizens, or how many deportation flights it has received in the past. A presidential representative confirmed that the planes had been diverted, but did not immediately respond to other questions.

Mr. Petro’s statement came in response to an article referring to a report by a local news outlet about Brazil’s complaint about the “inhumane” treatment of deported migrants. in a video of a man seen getting off a plane from the United States in Brazil with his hands tied. together.

The announcement comes as they grapple with how to prepare for the mass deportations of illegal immigrants that Mr. Trump has threatened.

Two military planes carrying deported migrants arrived in Guatemala City on Friday, one of the first countries to sign an agreement with the United States to receive deportees transported by US Air Force planes.