Latin American presidents will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to respond to the mass deportations of President Donald Trump’s migrants, while from his aggressive tactics move towards two traditional regional allies in Washington.
Trump tightened 25 percent of tariffs on a store with Colombia And he imposed a visa and other sanctions on Sunday after leaving President Gustavo Petro returned US military flights deporting migrants. AND The conflict ended A few hours after Bogota entered Washington’s demands.
Dramatic conflict, much of the social media, the unregulated Latin American nation, which were already scared of Trump’s threats to the military force to re -establish the US control over the Panaman channel and the steep tariffs on Mexico, the largest American trade partner.
“There is a lot of alarm in Washington among Latin American embassies,” said the older regional diplomat in Washington. “We seem to have come back in 1897 and the time of the President [William] McKinley, who attacked Cuba and Philippines. “
The emergence currency currencies were shot in disputes on Sunday, and Mexican Peso and South African rand both fell about two percent compared to the US dollar. The Colombian Peso fell 1.5 percent compared to the dollar on Monday morning, before returning some soil.
Panama, a nation of only 4.5 million people without an army and a great dependence on US trade and investment, is considered a particularly vulnerable on Trump requests to take control of the channel that built more than a century ago. The US president claimed that China is now managing the channel, and the US postage is “charging” the charges of using a fruitful path.
Honduran Xiomara Castro’s president called the region’s leader as a leader of the Latin American and Caribbean Community (Celci), after Petro’s request. The meeting will discuss migration, environment and regional unity, she said on X.
Michael Shifter, an elderly colleague from the Think-Tank inter-American dialog in Washington, said Latin American leaders are unlikely to delay Trump.
“They will try to establish a balance,” he said, “recognizing that on the one hand they must be pragmatic because Trump is actually capable of imposing sanctions, which would be very painful for these countries. On the other hand, they really have to save their face and show that they have national pride and protects sovereignty. “
Russian allies Cuba and Venezuela provided Swift support to Petro, a former Gerill with a long anger record against American politics on social media about issues ranging from gauze to drug war. But the largest forces in the region, Brazil and Mexico, did not comment publicly.
Diplomats said they wanted to discreetly coordinate positions and let the dust be placed before taking a public attitude.
“Petro gave a lesson about not dealing with Trump,” said another regional diplomat. “He entered the battle on social media without having a way to maintain his struggle.”
Several commentators pointed out that the Colombian leader had undergone his own position earlier, accepting that US military flights would deport migrants, dating for years under Democrats and Republican administrations.
Colombia, the traditionally closest American ally in South America, relies greatly on the US market for oil, coffee and cut flowers, and has little influence with Washington.
Time was also clumsy, with Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo-Pragmatic speaker of English and former ambassador to Washington-on February 1. .
Because Petrov’s accommodation on Sunday is a vague, crisis team consisting of Sarabia, Murillo and other officials met at the Presidential Palace and headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main interviewee on the US side, the diplomats said, was Mauricio Claver-Carone, Trump’s special envoy for Latin America in State Department. “Petro was in constant communication, he always listened and responded,” said a person with a direct knowledge of the conversation.
Bruce Mac Master, President of the Chief Business Association of Colombia, spent his day lobbying the Petrov diplomatic team and talked several times with Sarabia.
“I don’t think Petro had no idea about the dimensions and influence of American relationships,” Mac Master said. “He soon realized that the effects would be felt everywhere, starting with the course. I think he learned more about the economy than he had in the rest of his life.”
In contrast, the region shows that Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum in the region seemed to have done better. She explained disagreements with American politics in measured public comments, while privately agreeing with many Trump demands to return migrants and break the fentanil trade.
China has greatly expanded its trade and investments in Latin America in this century, and Beijing is likely to consider Trump’s unpredictable moves an ideal opportunity to introduce himself as a more reliable partner, diplomats and analysts said.
Shifter, Inter -American dialogue, said: “Celca is a platform for cinema in Latin America, so the Summit on Thursday is a Proxy to display [Washington] Yes if [it is] It will really punish us, then China is ready to fill the gap and enter even more than it is already. “
Additional reporting Tommy Stubbington in London
