Colombia bows to deportation move after Trump tariff threat

Colombia has backed down and agreed to accept deported citizens sent on US military aircraft, hours after President Donald Trump threatened painful tariffs to punish the defiance to his mass deportation plans.

Colombia's leftist president, Gustavo Petro, had earlier said he would only take back citizens "with dignity," such as on civilian planes, and had turned back two US military aircraft with repatriated Colombians.

Trump, less than a week back in office, responded furiously and threatened sanctions of 25 percent that would quickly scale up to 50 percent against Latin America's fourth largest economy.

Petro initially sought to hit back and impose his own tariffs on US products, but eventually backed down on Sunday.

Trump said he would suspend implementation of the tariffs on Colombia - historically one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America - which enjoys a free-trade agreement with the US.

Trump's deportation threats have put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America, the original home of most of the United States' estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.

The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, called for an urgent meeting of leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States to take place on Thursday in Tegucigalpa to discuss migration following the latest US moves.

Agence France-Presse