President Petro to Trump: “Columbia stops looking northwards”

By Yunus Soner

US President Donald Trump’s policy of migration caused a first diplomatic sable rattling on the American continent. Trump started expelling so-called immigrant migrants, putting them in US military planes. Footage shows migrants were transported in chains.

This caused rejection by many Latin American countries, the major areas of origin, with Mexico prohibiting the landing of such a plane, Brazil protesting against the conditions.

Similarly, the Colombian government prohibited 2 US military planes carrying migrants from landing on its soil. President Trump reacted by threating to impose a 25% of tariff on all imports from Columbia, to be raised to 50% in a week, in addition to sanctioning all politicians and personnel on Columbian side involved in the decision.

Columbian President Gustavo Petro responded to Trump with an open letter published on social media, which we document below. Petro announced to retaliate and also raise tariffs.

In the meantime, the conflict was resolved, with Colombia accepting the return of its citizens and President Petro dispatching the presidential plane for their transfer. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself descendent of Cuban migrants, announced that tariff raises and sanctions were “on hold”.

Notwithstanding the current resolution, Petro’s letter received a huge attention both on the continent and beyond, with readers felt being represented by it. Latin American efforts for a joint response to Trump are continuing.

https://twitter.com/petrogustavo/status/1883624818811236502

We consider Petro’s letter worth being published despite the current resolution, as it reflects a broad and shared perception and standing on the Latin American continent. Besides, in his poetic words, Petro also announces that his country “will from now on not look to the north”, which might be a positioning well beyond the migration issue. Below is the text published by te President of Gustavo Petro, President of Columbia, on his social media.

Trump, I don’t really like traveling to the US, it’s a bit boring, but I confess that there are some commendable things, I like going to the black neighborhoods of Washington, there I saw an entire fight in the US capital between blacks and Latinos with barricades, which seemed like nonsense to me, because they should unite.

I confess that I like Walt Whitman and Paul Simon and Noam Chomsky and Miller.

I confess that Sacco and Vanzetti, who have my blood, are memorable in the history of the United States and I follow them. They were murdered by labor leaders with the electric chair, the fascists who are within the United States as well as within my country.

I don’t like your oil, Trump, you are going to wipe out the human species because of greed. Maybe one day, over a glass of whiskey, which I accept, despite my gastritis, we can talk frankly about this, but it is difficult because you consider me an inferior race and I am not, nor is any Colombian.

So, if you know someone who is stubborn, that’s me, period. With your economic strength and your arrogance, you can try to carry out a coup d’état like they did with Allende. But I 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. If you can’t accompany me, I’ll go elsewhere. Colombia is the heart of the world, and you didn’t understand that. This is the land of the yellow butterflies, of the beauty of Remedios, but also of the colonels Aureliano Buendía, of whom I am one, perhaps the last.

You will kill me, but I will survive in my people, which came before yours, in the Americas. We are peoples of the winds, the mountains, the Caribbean Sea and of Liberty.

You don’t like our freedom, okay. I don’t shake hands with white slavers. I shake hands with the white libertarian heirs of Lincoln and the black and white peasants of the USA , at whose graves I cried and prayed on a battlefield, which I reached after walking the mountains of Italian Tuscany and after being saved from Covid.

They are the United States and before them I kneel. Before no one else.

Overthrow me, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond.

Colombia now stops looking north, looks at the world, our blood comes from the blood of the Caliphate of Cordoba, the civilization of that time, of the Roman Latins of the Mediterranean, the civilization of that time, who founded the republic, democracy in Athens; our blood has the black resistance fighters turned into slaves by you. In Colombia is the first free territory of America, before Washington, of all America, there I take refuge in its African songs.

My land is made up of goldsmiths who worked in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs and of the first artists in the world in Chiribiquete.

You will never rule us. The warrior who rode across our lands, shouting for freedom, who is called Bolívar, opposes you.

Our people are somewhat fearful, somewhat timid, they are naive and kind, loving, but they will know how to win back the Panama Canal, which you took from us with violence. Two hundred heroes from all of Latin America lie in Bocas del Toro, today’s Panama, formerly Colombia, which you murdered.

I raise a flag and as Gaitán said, even if it remains alone, it will continue to be raised with the Latin American dignity that is the dignity of America, which your great-grandfather did not know, but mine did, Mr. President, an immigrant in the United States .

Your blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world. I know that you love beauty as I do, do not disrespect it and you will give it your sweetness.

FROM TODAY ON, COLOMBIA OPENS ITSELF TO THE ENTIRE WORLD, WITH OPEN ARMS. WE ARE BUILDERS OF FREEDOM, LIFE AND HUMANITY.

I am informed that you put a 50% tariff on the fruits of our human labor to enter the United States, I do the same.

Let our people plant corn that was discovered in Colombia and feed the world.