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| Gustavo Preto fires back at Trump with tariffs, insults (Reuters) |
The White House is insisting that President Trump's bullying and intimidation forced a positive resolution for the U.S. in a dispute with Colombia over abusive treatment of deportees, and use of military aircraft to transport them to the South American country. A closer look at the episode shows Trump's bluster was not all that effective, and Colombian President Gustavo Preto did not seem particularly threatened, tossing barbs in Trump's direction, including calling him a threat to humanity -- a position many Americans likely share.
The UK Daily Mail examined both sides of the issue in a report under the headline "Colombian president hits Trump with astounding insult as he issues blistering statement on US tariff threat." Brittany Chain, a senior reporter based in New York, writes:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Donald Trump of being a 'white slaveholder' who is on track to 'wipe out the human species.' That came after Petro appeared to be humiliated by the U.S. president in a dispute over migrants.
It is the latest salvo in a bitter dispute that began when Petro blocked two U.S. migrant deportation flights entering his country. But within hours, Trump threatened to hit Colombia with huge import tariffs and stop visa processing.
Petro immediately backed down on migrant flights, and even offered to use his own plane to fly deported migrants from the U.S. to Colombia.
After the climb-down, Petro said: 'You don't like our freedom, okay. I don't shake hands with white slavers.'
'Overthrow me, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond... You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance.'
President Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Colombian imports and an immediate visa revocation for government officials after the nation refused two planeloads of citizens who had been deported from the United States.
That tariff will be raised to 50 per cent in one week, the president warned.
But not even two hours after Trump announced his retaliatory efforts against Colombia, Petro offered his presidential plane to 'facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights.'
In the end, Petro did not seem chastened by Trump's handling of the dispute. In fact, Petro apparently saw it as an opportunity to throw cutting insults at Trump. Chain writes:
The White House is insisting that President Trump's bullying and intimidation forced a positive resolution for the U.S. in a dispute with Colombia over abusive treatment of deportees, and use of military aircraft to transport them to the South American country.
The UK Daily Mail examined both sides of the issue in a report under the headline "Colombian president hits Trump with astounding insult as he issues blistering statement on US tariff threat." Brittany Chain, a senior reporter based in New York, writes:
After the climb-down, Petro said: 'You don't like our freedom, okay. I don't shake hands with white slavers.'
'Overthrow me, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond... You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance.'
President Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Colombian imports and an immediate visa revocation for government officials after the nation refused two planeloads of citizens who had been deported from the United States.
That tariff will be raised to 50 per cent in one week, the president warned.
But not even two hours after Trump announced his retaliatory efforts against Colombia, Petro offered his presidential plane to 'facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights.'
In the end, Petro did not seem chastened by Trump's handling of the dispute. In fact, Petro saw it as an opportunity to throw cutting insults at Trump.
The UK Daily Mail examined both sides of the issue in a report under the headline "Colombian president hits Trump with astounding insult as he issues blistering statement on US tariff threat." Brittany Chain, a senior reporter based in New York, writes:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Donald Trump of being a 'white slaveholder' who is on track to 'wipe out the human species' after being humiliated by the US president in a dispute over migrants.
After the climbdown, Petro said: 'You don't like our freedom, okay. I don't shake hands with white slavers.'
'Overthrow me, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond... You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance.'
President Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of 25 percent on Colombian imports and an immediate visa revocation for government officials after the nation refused two planeloads of citizens who had been deported from the United States.
That tariff will be raised to 50 percent in one week, the president warned.
But not even two hours after Trump announced his retaliatory efforts against Colombia, Petro offered his presidential plane to 'facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights.'
In the end, Petro did not seem chastened by Trump's handling of the dispute. In fact, Petro saw it as an opportunity to throw cutting insults at Trump. Chain writes:
However, now he's launched a savage scorched earth attack on President Trump, further disintegrating the relationship between the two nations.
Petro warned Trump that his 'greed' could be the downfall of mankind in the brutal attack.
'I don't like your oil, Trump,' he said, adding: 'You're going to wipe out the human species because of greed.'
Petro went on to tell Trump, publicly via X, that the 'blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world.'
In response to the U.S. tariff 'on the fruits of our human labor', Petro has imposed a tariff of 25 percent - which will rise to 50 per cent - on U.S. goods entering Colombia.
It does not sound as if the Colombian president is easily intimidated. And he was not finished, Chain reports:
The tit-for-tat descended into nasty jabs at President Trump and, more broadly, the United States.
'Trump, I don't really like traveling to the U.S., it's a bit boring... I confess that there are some commendable things.
'I like going to the black neighborhoods of Washington, where I saw an entire fight in the US Capitol between blacks and Latinos with barricades, which seemed like nonsense to me, because they should join.'
And Petro made it clear he would not back down, despite the White House insisting he did just that on the flight saga after he volunteered his own plane to pick up migrants.
'You will never rule us,' he said. 'The warrior who rode our lands, shouting freedom, who is called Bolívar, opposes us. I will die in my law, I resisted torture and I resist you.
'I don't want slavers next to Colombia, we already had many and we freed ourselves. What I want next to Colombia are lovers of freedom.'
Based on a review of multiple news accounts, Preto seems to like the United States and admire its people. It's just that he sees Trump as an incompetent, insufferable jackass, and many Americans (including your humble blogger) wholeheartedly agree with that. If I had the authority to exchange presidents with Mexico, Colombia, or dozens of other countries, I would do it in a heartbeat. Trump might be suited for a third-world country (although I doubt it, and I would hate to foist him upon another country), but he is not fit to lead any democracy -- certainly not the United States.
How long will it take Americans, especially those who were dim enough to vote for the jackass, to realize they made a horrific mistake? And can someone in U.S. authority figure out a way to get rid of Trump before he screws up our country so badly that it cannot be fixed?
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