Gustavo Petro, the left-wing president of Colombia, declared on Sunday that he would not permit US planes used for migrant deportation to enter his nation’s airspace.
“The United States cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I forbid entry to our territory to US planes carrying Colombian migrants,” Petro wrote on X, adding they would only be accepted once Washington had created a protocol ensuring the “dignified treatment” of the migrants.
In a subsequent post, Petro stated without providing any other information that he had “turned back US military planes that were coming with Colombian migrants.”The United States did not immediately confirm to AFP that deportation flights headed for Colombia had been blocked.
Petro’s comments follow a day earlier when the Brazilian government also voiced its disapproval of the Trump administration’s handling of dozens of Brazilians who were deported from the US.
In what Brazil described as a “flagrant disregard” for their fundamental rights, the migrants were handcuffed during the journey.
Petro stated that if deported migrants were not treated “like criminals,” he would permit civilian US flights to bring them in.