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bne March 2025 Opinion 59 COMMENT
Trump's Latin America gambit pays off,
but at what cost?
Ricardo Martins in Da Nang
In his first two weeks back in the White House, US President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders, setting off an unprecedented crisis in Latin America and stirring anger among regional leaders. Yet his administration has scored several victories, especially when it comes to migration and repatriation deals, plus other diplomatic manoeuvres aimed at keeping China’s growing influence at bay.
Colombia: Trump’s push to deport undocumented migrants on US military aircraft triggered a severe diplomatic impasse, with President Gustavo Petro rejecting the use of military planes and barring the aircraft from landing.
But the leftist leader’s resistance came at a cost. Trump threatened harsh economic measures, including 25% tariffs on Colombian goods – potentially rising to 50% within a week – along with travel bans on Colombian citizens and officials and enhanced border inspections of Colombian cargo. Hours after these punitive decisions were announced, an agreement was reached, and Colombia dispatched its presidential aircraft to Honduras to repatriate its nationals who had been deported from the US.
Brazil: The arrival of 88 Brazilian deportees on a US-chartered flight sparked outrage in Brazil. Reports of degrading treatment emerged after migrants arrived in handcuffs and chains on feet, with several claiming mistreatment during the journey.
After a technical stop in Manaus, Brazilian officials did not authorise the plane to continue due to “the use of handcuffs and chains, the poor condition of the aircraft, with a faulty air conditioning system, among other problems.” The deportees eventually travelled the last leg of their journey on a Brazilian Air Force aircraft.
Guatemala: The Guatemalan government has agreed to accept deported migrants from the United States. Under
this arrangement, deportees will be returned to their home countries at US expense. This deal was struck during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Guatemala, as part of his Central America trip. "We have agreed to increase by 40% the number of flights of deportees both of our nationality as well as deportees from other nationalities,” said Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo during a press conference.
El Salvador: A landmark deal was inked between the US and El Salvador to establish an asylum agreement. This "Safe Third Country" agreement will allow US immigration officials to deport non-Salvadoran migrants – and potentially US inmates – to El Salvador and could permit the housing of certain detainees, including Venezuelan gang members, in Salvadoran mega-prisons in exchange for an undisclosed fee. Rubio said that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele “has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.”
Trump’s aggressive tariff diplomacy gained a first win, obtaining significant concessions from both Panama and Mexico. / bne IntelliNews
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