Quotes
I don't like your oil, Trump, ... You're going to wipe out the human species because of greed.
he said, adding
Don' ... t go [to the US] because they're deporting everyone..,
a mother carrying her baby said outside the plane provided by the Colombian government to bring the migrants back to their homelandTrump was saying he was repatriating criminals, illegals, people who shouldn't be in this country. I don't understand why Petro wants to pick unnecessary fights; he was putting millions of dollars in Colombian exports at risk. He's a president who isn't respecting the will of his people."
Maria Salazar, speaking on Colombian radio
They have no criminal records in either Colombia or the United States. Their only status is being irregular migrants,
a spokesperson for the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs saidI was trying to be in that country legally. I had a job here in Colombia; I am a mechatronics engineer,
said Fredy Alexander, who had his asylum request denied after spending 12 days in the U.S.They treated us like criminals; it was inhumane. We were handcuffed. I crossed the border last week; here, I have nothing,
said another unnamed deporteeThree hundred people sitting on a plane. Every single one of them is either a murderer, a drug lord, a kingpin, the head of the mob, or a gang member,
Trump saidMeasures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens,
Rubio said
As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security,
Rubio saidFirst, we must curb mass migration and secure our borders. The State Department will no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage mass migration,
Rubio saidI will never allow Colombians to be brought in handcuffs on flights. Marco, if officials from the Foreign Ministry allowed this, it would never be under my direction.”
Petro later directed a post at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warning
Donald Trump and the people around him, including Rubio, don’t like Gustavo Petro,
said Adam Isacson, the director of defense oversight for the Washington Office on Latin America think tankYou can’t go out there and publicly defy us in that way,
a Trump administration official told CNN on Sunday
The message that's being sent is how willing the Trump administration is to use these tools, and the fact that they got the opportunity to make that point in the first week of the administration, I'm sure, is quite pleasing for them,
said Kevin Whitaker, the former US ambassador to Colombia who now serves as a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council
Last year alone, Petro had no problem allowing in 14,000 Colombians that were deported from the United States back to Colombia,
Acevedo said
I think that you saw from the Colombia negotiation that the president is going to use tariffs if he needs to get people to make policy concessions that are good for America.”
Kevin Hassett, the Trump-appointed director of the National Economic Council, told Fox News
President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation's sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,
it added
The president, in his own mind, would see himself as having unfettered power ... to the extent that you can have unfettered power in a democracy,
Sinodinos says
The relationship with the United States is special,
Sheinbaum told reporters
But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff,
he said