Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro insisted on Saturday that his government will refuse US deportation flights that violate the human rights of Colombian migrants.
In an interview with US television network Univision, Petro said that “Colombians do not enter here in handcuffs unless they are proven criminals.”
The president gave the interview almost a week after a major spat with US President Donald Trump that almost triggered a trade war.
Trump revoked the order to impose sanctions on Colombian imports after claiming that Petro had agreed to all conditions, a claim denied by the Colombian president.
According to Petro, a permission to resume flights with handcuffed deportees on board was granted without his knowledge.
The president suggested that there would be consequences for the person or persons who authorized this flight.
“We do not accept handcuffed Colombians,” Petro told Univision.
“The proposal that is on the table in the United States… is that we bring the planes and we take the Colombians,” said the president.
“And if they [deportations] increase, which you can see coming, we send cruise ships,” Petro added.
According to the president, Colombian diplomats are negotiating protocols that would guarantee the human rights of Colombians in the process of being deported.